The Private Space Race Is On

[The new (private) frontier]

SpaceX

The company founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind PayPal and electric-car maker Tesla Motors, is now vital to the future of the International Space Station (ISS). In 2014 SpaceX plans to launch four missions to resupply the ISS as part of a $1.6 billion contract for 12 deliveries. Meanwhile, the company's Falcon Heavy, expected to be the world's most powerful rocket when it launches this year, will carry larger loads into space.

Virgin Galactic

Founder Richard Branson says his SpaceShipTwo is on track to begin taking passengers into the edges of the atmosphere...