Current issues in NewSpace

The issues facing the entrepreneurial space industry (commonly called “NewSpace” by its advocates) have been shifting over the years. In the late 1990s supporters of space tourism struggled to be taken seriously, given the focus on what seemed to be more real markets: namely, the launching of hundreds of satellite for low Earth orbit telecommunications systems. After that market fell through and space tourism began to be taken more seriously, there were concerns about regulatory matters in the United States, including whether suborbital vehicles would be treated as aircraft or launch vehicles by the FAA.