The evolving role of private actors in space exploration

Space activities, and in particular space exploration and human spaceflight, have traditionally been driven by governments procuring space systems from a private industrial base usually through cost-plus contracts involving close scrutiny of operations by space agencies. Although the vast majority of space activities are still driven by governments with private industries acting as contractors for public programmes and relying massively on public funding, this status quo is being increasingly challenged with new opportunities for a more prominent contribution of commercial actors lying in the so-called New Space ecosystem.