Commercial Space Travel And Colonization: SpaceX, NASA, And NextSTEP Make Preparations For Lift Off

Companies working through the NextSTEP program are partnering with NASA to build actual size, on the ground habitats and test them for safety. This private and public partnership allows various corporations to develop different aspects of different projects with the common goal of deep space exploration and colonization. The six prototypes will be developed by six different companies including Boeing. They will be responsible for design analysis, demonstration, and testing according to The Te Cake.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pPlYpbSMFU[/embed] Commercial space travel, including travel, transport, and colonization under the NextSTEP program, is a cooperative effort. The companies signed on through the NextSTEP corporation, are working on projects intended to facilitate the development of extraplanetary travel technology quickly and efficiently according to NASA. The human race will no longer be earthbound, and they will have corporations to thank for designing these projects. Not all the projects are similar. Lockheed Martin worked to build new parts for the ISS. The space shuttle transported these parts to the ISS. The Sierra Nevada Corporation is working on inflatable fabric space habitat components to attach to interplanetary travel vehicles.

NASA and NextSTEP partner Orbital ATK is working to make launch vehicles more comfortable for long term habitation, while Texas-based NanoRacks will be responsible for conducting a feasibility study, involving the conversion of an existing launch vehicle's upper stage, which is the propellant segment, into a pressurized inhabitable volume, or livable area, in space.

Elon Musk's SpaceX is preparing for a launch their Falcon 9, which will launch the JCSAT-16 satellite into space, according to NASA Space Flight. This latest Falcon 9 is tasked with lofting the JCSAT-16 satellite into its Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GEO) on August 14, once again involving the first stage making a landing attempt on the drone ship. Elon wants to develop spacecraft that are reusable, rather than waste all the parts, on every trip. This would make travel to another planet more affordable. Ultimately, though, Mr. Musk's goal is to colonize Mars. Part of Elon's plan is affordability. He wants ordinary people to be able to afford to travel to Mars if they want to move there.

Elon Musk wants to develop spacecraft that are reusable, rather than waste all the parts, on every trip. This would make travel to another planet more affordable. Ultimately, Mr. Musk's goal is to colonize Mars. Part of Elon's plan is affordability. He wants ordinary people to be able to afford to travel to Mars if they want to move there.

[Photo by NASA/Getty Images]