Commercial astronaut in the context of "SpaceShipOne"

Human spaceflight programs have been conducted, started, or planned by multiple countries and companies. Until the 21st century, human spaceflight programs were sponsored exclusively by governments, through either the military or civilian space agencies. With the launch of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new category of human spaceflight programs – commercial human spaceflight – arrived. By the end of 2022, three countries (Soviet Union/Russia, United States and China) and one private company (SpaceX) had successfully launched humans to Earth orbit, and two private companies (Scaled Composites and Blue Origin) had launched humans on a suborbital trajectory.

The criteria for what constitutes human spaceflight vary. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale defines spaceflight as any flight over 100 kilometers (62 mi). In the United States professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of 80 kilometers (50 mi) are awarded the United States Astronaut Badge. This article follows the FAI definition of spaceflight.

Axiom Station is a planned modular space station designed by Houston, Texas-based Axiom Space for commercial space activities. Axiom Space gained initial NASA approval for the venture in January 2020. Axiom Space was later awarded the contract by NASA on February 28, 2020. Axiom Station is one of multiple Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) projects supported by NASA to build a successor to the International Space Station (ISS) before its decommissioning in 2030.

SpaceX Starbase, previously known as SpaceX South Texas Launch Site and SpaceX private launch site, is an industrial complex and rocket launch facility that serves as the main testing and production location for Starship launch vehicles, as well as the headquarters of the American space technology company SpaceX. Located in Starbase, Texas, United States, and adjacent to South Padre Island, Texas, Starbase has been under near-continuous development since the late 2010s, and comprises a spaceport near the Gulf of Mexico, a production facility, and a test site along Texas State Highway 4.

When initially conceptualized in the early 2010s, its stated purpose was "to provide SpaceX an exclusive launch site that would allow the company to accommodate its launch manifest and meet tight launch windows." The launch site was originally intended to support launches of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles as well as "a variety of reusable suborbital launch vehicles". In early 2018, SpaceX announced a change of plans, stating that the launch site would now be used exclusively for SpaceX's next-generation launch vehicle, Starship. Between 2018 and 2020, the site added significant rocket production and test capacity. SpaceX Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk indicated in 2014 that he expected "commercial astronauts, private astronauts, to be departing from South Texas," and eventually launching spacecraft to Mars from the site.