Despite Risks And Pitfalls Entrepreneurs Explore The Final Frontier

Since the launch of Sputnik in 1957, space has overwhelmingly been the preserve of the state, either directly through national agencies, or indirectly, through fat contracts handed to corporations to design and build launch vehicles, satellites and spacraft.

But in the last couple of years, undaunted by the risks and helped by lower entry costs, private entrepreneurs have pluckily started to shoulder their way in. The latest step will take at 0030 GMT on Thursday, when Falcon 1, funded entirely by private capital, is scheduled to lift off from a US military base at Kwajalein, in the Marshall Islands.

The company behind the venture is Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), a startup based in El Segundo, California, whose declared goal is to boost the cost and reliability of access to space "ultimately by a factor of 10".

Many other entrepreneurs are working on their own space vision - read the full article for more info!