Living in the Future: The Birth of Commercial Spaceflight

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_aqQhHn0fA

Ever since the death of the space shuttle program, it seemed that the US’s dreams of space travel were now put on hold indefinitely. We have too many wars to fight, too much health care coverage to dole out. No time for the planets or stars.

But yesterday marked a landmark in space travel history, the first commercially owned rocket was launched into space at Cape Canaveral. Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft (they already have cooler names) were sent on a mission to bring supplies to the international space station. The launch went off without a hitch, and it’s amazing to see that independently owned companies now have the ability to do things like this. While NASA should very much still exist, hopefully the space industry will continue to grow in the private sector. That’s one use of corporate cash I can get behind.

Watch the video above, and witness history.