The space race has billionaires and superpowers locked in a battle for access says Joe Shute
5 March 2021 • 7:00am
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk celebrating the launch of the
Falcon 9 rocket in May 2020
Credit: Joe Raedle/ Getty Images
The modern day race to shoot passengers into space has become infernal, quite literally. On Wednesday, a rocket designed by Elon Musk, the 49-year-old CEO of Tesla and founder of space transportation company SpaceX, burst into flames - albeit eight minutes after touchdown, making it a loosely successful test run should the theoretical passengers descend from the rocket with haste.
The promise of galactic adventure also featured in one billionaire's quest for love. Musk is busy working on a plan to fly the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, the founder and former CEO of online fashion retailer Zozo, around the Moon in 2023 on the SpaceX Starship, after the latter paid an undisclosed sum for a ticket.