He founded Blue Origin in 2000 - six years after starting Amazon - and gave it the motto “gradatim ferociter,” a Latin phrase that translates to “ step by step, ferociously.” The company’s mascot is also a tortoise, paying homage to the tortoise and the hare fable that made the “slow and steady wins the race” mantra a childhood staple. If one billionaire has made a desire not to rush-manufacture rockets a part of his brand, it’s Bezos. Musk, the world’s second richest man, has also criticized rivals for attempting to generate profits, as opposed to SpaceX, which has the stated goal of “making life multiplanetary.” Take that as you will. His most notable comment on the matter was that he’d “ like to die on Mars, just not on impact.” The company is credited with almost single-handedly disrupting the rocket industry, which was considered fairly stagnant and somewhat uninteresting for a couple of decades before SpaceX came along.īut on the other hand, Musk himself has not traveled to space, nor has he said when he would do so or if he is willing to take on the risk anytime soon. But there’s no denying that SpaceX has frequently been the pioneer of the commercial space sector by breaking records, making history, and accomplishing things that industry professionals once deemed unfeasible. Josep Lago/AFP/Getty ImagesĮlon Musk touts SpaceX surging internet growth, but still says goal is to avoid bankruptcyĪlong the way, SpaceX collected a fervent base of supporters who defend his every move. Tesla CEO Elon Musk gives a keynote speech by video conference at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) fair in Barcelona on June 29, 2021. Their companies have, relatively speaking, just scratched the edge of space. Meanwhile, neither Branson’s nor Bezos’ companies have managed to take astronauts to orbit. Now SpaceX is working on creating a spaceship that will take humans to the moon and Mars. It’s created and flown the most powerful rocket in operation - and performed synchronized landings of its boosters - and developed a spacecraft that successfully ferried astronauts to the International Space Station. ![]() Musk’s venture, founded in 2002, has built rockets capable of shuttling satellites and other cargo into Earth’s orbit, a trip that requires speeds topping 17,000 miles per hour, and built a 1,500-piece constellation of internet-beaming satellites it’s figured out how to land and reuse much of its hardware after flight and it’s won massive NASA and US military contracts. If there is a race underway, space fans are usually the first to declare SpaceX the frontrunner. SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin have also all benefited greatly through partnerships with NASA and the US military, and all three continue to compete - and occasionally partner with - legacy aerospace companies, such as Boeing and Northrop Grumman and United Launch Alliance. There are hundreds of space startups across the United States and the world focused on everything from satellite tech to orbiting hotels. ![]() And they all founded their companies within a few years of each other, becoming the most recognizable faces in the 21st-century space race, in which titans of private industry are racing each other to space, rather than Western governments racing Eastern governments like in the space race of last century.īut they certainly are not the only players in the game, and they may not be the only space barons for very long. The press has billed Bezos, Branson and Musk as the three so-called space barons because of their similarities: All made their fortunes in other industries before setting their sites on extraterrestrial ventures - Musk in online payments and electric cars, Bezos with Amazon, and Branson with his empire of Virgin-branded businesses. ![]() But never has the Branson-Musk-Bezos dynamic appeared more competitive than when Branson announced earlier this month that he would fire himself into outer space on a suborbital joy ride just days before Bezos will clamber into his own rocket.īranson’s flight took off without a hitch on Sunday, while Bezos plans to take off July 20.īut which billionaire is truly winning this so-called space race? It all depends on how you look at it. The space companies founded by the three billionaires all have slightly different goals and varying visions of how to achieve them. And all three men have decided to put vast sums of their wealth into chasing their space travel dreams, creating a modern space race in which ultra-rich men - rather than countries - shoot for the stars. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson have a combined net worth of $400 billion, roughly the size of the GDP of the entire nation of Ireland.
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