Table of ContentsHas SpaceX Started a Commercial Space Race? Showing SpaceX's Rise and Leadership in Space help from Google TrendsFierce competition for NASA contractsHas SpaceX launched a commercial space race? “On behalf of the SpaceX and NASA teams, welcome to planet Earth. Thank you for flying SpaceX.” This quote from mission command as the Dragon crew crashed into the Gulf of Mexico is, I believe, the most influential words for human space travel since Armstrong's “one small step for man…” and a critical step in the commercial space race. Even though SpaceX has taken this big step, has it started this space race and will it continue to lead it? I think they will. No other business venture has generated as much publicity and public support as it. They are the only company to receive the number of critical, game-changing contracts they have acquired from NASA and have the broadest range of satellite launch services for other companies. They are the only private company that has made the progress that they have made, no other comes close to the achievements and technological advancements that have been made. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In this essay I will examine how the race has and will continue and evolve into the future, as it is far from over. I will also examine SpaceX's often overlooked risks and anti-competitive behavior and how this affects the space race. In my findings, I will exclude companies that primarily focus on aeronautics like Boeing and Airbus or defense companies like Raytheon or Lockheed when looking at Google's search data and revenue because searches for their aircraft rather than for their spacecraft and their huge payments the Western military will do it. strongly affect results and provide inaccurate information when compared to spacecraft-only companies. I will also exclude areas where the US government might push NASA to compete with corporations, since they are not private and currently outsource most jobs. First, what is my definition of the commercial space race and briefly, what is SpaceX? I will define the commercial space race as the race between private companies to be the first to dominate space and gain the upper hand over other companies in a wide range of sectors, whether supporting public, NASA contracts, broadband. providing or the first to land a man on Mars. Classic corporate shenanigans, except in space and with extremely increased risks. With all this corporate warfare comes a potential improvement in the human race's understanding, exploration, and technology. During my research, I discovered things that helped me refine my definition of the commercial space race and divide it into additional sub-races. The race for NASA's most advantageous contract, the race for broadband via low-orbit satellites and the race for Mars. All of these areas are facing very fierce competition, which I didn't expect to be on such a scale. The more research I did, the more it became clear to me that the race to bring commercial flights to the public was just one tiny cog in the commercial space race machine. But for context, what is SpaceX? SpaceX is an aerospace company foundedby Elon Musk on May 6, 2002 and is currently the leading private company in space travel and reusable rocket technology with four primary missions for human space travel. Earth Orbit Mission, this mission aims to put humans into orbit and dramatically speed up travel around the planet, reducing some travel times from over 10 hours to just 30 minutes. Space Station Mission, this mission aims to bring astronauts to the International Space Station from the United States. Mission Moon, this mission aims to return humanity to our Moon and establish bases there and gain experience to travel to Mars and beyond. Mission Mars and beyond, this mission is their goal, to bring humanity to Mars and eventually colonize it and officially make humanity a multi-planetary species and get humans to set foot on another planet for the first time. Showing SpaceX's Rise and Lead in Advertising Using Google Trends I firmly believe that SpaceX has without a doubt generated more publicity and support than any other private space company. Which in turn generated increasingly rich private competition. Which then led to the emergence of a second space race, a “commercial” space race. One of the reasons I believe this to be true is that (excluding companies dedicated to aeronautics, particularly Airbus and Boeing due to their dominant involvement in the airline industry and their place among the top two aerospace companies in terms of turnover and therefore largest customers). SpaceX has extremely high engagement and public interest compared to competitors Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic. The fierce competition for NASA contracts Another reason I think SpaceX has started a commercial space race is the revenue and money they bring in and other companies join the race to get there. participate. Specifically, I'm talking about the multi-million dollar exclusive deal they made with NASA that I'm sure other companies want a piece of. NASA distributes a total of more than 8 billion dollars to different companies. They want to launch astronauts from the United States again, not from Russia, where prices have more than quadrupled in the past decade and reliability is in question. SpaceX has grown so much that NASA has publicly stated that it does not own or intend to own them, but is a big customer: "We no longer want to buy, own and operate the material as we did before. We want to be one customer of many customers in a very robust commercial market in low Earth orbit,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. In this quote, Bridenstine appears to be encouraging a commercial space race and the advancement of commercial companies in space. The first NASA contract that SpaceX received likely opened the eyes of many in the industry to how they could profit and rush to secure more contracts and commercial offers. In September 2008, SpaceX became the first commercial space company to send a liquid-fueled rocket into space and just three months later it won a NASA contract worth more than $1 billion to maintain the ISS. This wasn't their first contract with NASA, however, the first came in 2006, SpaceX won a NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Phase 1 contract, essentially an entry-level version of their.