Private spaceflight in the context of Falcon 1

The Artemis program is a Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), formally established in 2017 via Space Policy Directive 1. The program is intended to reestablish a human presence on the Moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, with a stated long-term goal of establishing a permanent base on the Moon. This will facilitate human missions to Mars.

Two principal elements of the Artemis program are derived from the now-cancelled Constellation program: the Orion spacecraft (with the ESM instead of a US-built service module) and the Space Launch System's (SLS) solid rocket boosters (originally developed for the Ares V). Other elements of the program, such as the Lunar Gateway space station and the Human Landing System, are in development by government space agencies and private spaceflight companies, collaborations bound by the Artemis Accords and governmental contracts.

SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with sub-orbital spaceflight capability at speeds of up to 3,000 ft/s (2,000 mph) / 910 m/s (3,300 km/h)using a hybrid rocket motor. The design features a unique "feathering" atmospheric reentry system where the rear half of the wing and the twin tail booms folds 70 degrees upward along a hinge running the length of the wing; this increases drag while retaining stability. SpaceShipOne completed the first crewed private spaceflight in 2004. That same year, it won the US$10 million Ansari X Prize and was immediately retired from active service. Its mother ship was named "White Knight". Both craft were developed and flown by Mojave Aerospace Ventures, which was a joint venture between Paul Allen and Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan's aviation company. Allen provided the funding of approximately US$25 million.

Rutan has indicated that ideas about the project began as early as 1994 and the full-time development cycle time to the 2004 accomplishments was about three years. The vehicle first achieved supersonic flight on December 17, 2003, which was also the one-hundredth anniversary of the Wright Brothers' historic first powered flight. SpaceShipOne's first official spaceflight, known as flight 15P, was piloted by Mike Melvill. A few days before that flight, the Mojave Air and Space Port was the first commercial spaceport licensed in the United States. A few hours after that flight, Melvill became the first licensed U.S. commercial astronaut. The overall project name was "Tier One" which has evolved into Tier 1b with a goal of taking a successor ship's first passengers into space.

Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed, manufactured, and operated by the American space company SpaceX for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) and private spaceflight missions. The spacecraft, which consists of a reusable space capsule and an expendable trunk module, has two variants: the 4-person Crew Dragon and Cargo Dragon, a replacement for the Dragon 1 cargo capsule. The spacecraft launches atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket, and the capsule returns to Earth through splashdown.

Crew Dragon's primary role is to transport crews to and from the ISS under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, a task handled by the Space Shuttle until it was retired in 2011. It will be joined by Boeing's Starliner in this role when NASA certifies it. Crew Dragon is also used for commercial flights to ISS and other destinations and is expected to be used to transport people to and from Axiom Space's planned space station.

A life-support system is the combination of equipment that allows survival in an environment or situation that would not support that life in its absence. It is generally applied to systems supporting human life in situations where the outside environment is hostile, such as outer space or underwater, or medical situations where the health of the person is compromised to the extent that the risk of death would be high without the function of the equipment.

In human spaceflight, a life-support system is a group of devices that allow a human being to survive in outer space.US government space agency NASA, and private spaceflight companiesuse the phrase "environmental control and life-support system" or the acronym ECLSS when describing these systems. The life-support system may supply air, water and food. It must also maintain the correct body temperature, an acceptable pressure on the body and deal with the body's waste products. Shielding against harmful external influences such as radiation and micro-meteorites may also be necessary. Components of the life-support system are life-critical, and are designed and constructed using safety engineering techniques.

Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) was a NASA program to spur the development of private spacecraft and launch vehicles for deliveries to the International Space Station (ISS). Launched in 2006, COTS successfully concluded in 2013 after completing all demonstration flights.

NASA's final report on the program considered it a success and a model for future public-private collaboration. Compared to traditional cost-plus contracts employed by NASA, such as the $12 billion contract for the Orion spacecraft, the $800 million COTS investment resulted in "two new U.S. medium-class launch vehicles and two automated cargo spacecraft". After the conclusion of the COTS program, NASA shifted towards fixed-price contracts for crew and cargo services. While the approach has significantly lowered costs for NASA, companies other than SpaceX have struggled under the fixed-price system, with some refusing to bid and others experiencing large losses on contracts.

SpaceX has privately funded the development of orbital launch systems that can be reused many times, similar to the reusability of aircraft. SpaceX has developed technologies since the 2010s to facilitate full and rapid reuse of space launch vehicles. The project's long-term objectives include returning a launch vehicle first stage to the launch site within minutes and to return a second stage to the launch pad, following orbital realignment with the launch site and atmospheric reentry in up to 24 hours. SpaceX's long term goal would have been reusability of both stages of their orbital launch vehicle, and the first stage would be designed to allow reuse a few hours after return. Development of reusable second stages for Falcon 9 was later abandoned in favor of developing Starship. However, SpaceX still developed reusable payload fairings for the Falcon 9.

The program was announced in 2011. SpaceX first achieved a successful landing and recovery of a first stage in December 2015. The first re-flight of a landed first stage occurred in March 2017 with the second occurring in June 2017, that one only five months after the maiden flight of the booster. The third attempt occurred in October 2017 with the SES-11/EchoStar-105 mission. Reflights of refurbished first stages then became routine. In May 2021, B1051 became the first booster to launch ten missions.

Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) is a division of the Boeing Company based in Arlington, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. The division builds military airplanes, rotorcraft, and missiles, as well as space systems for both commercial and military customers, including satellites, spacecraft, and rockets.

It was formerly known as Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS), which was formed in 2002 by combining the former "Military Aircraft and Missile Systems" and "Space and Communications" divisions. The group that brought together major names in aerospace; Boeing Military Airplane Company; Hughes Satellite Systems; Hughes Helicopters (the civilian helicopter line was divested as MD Helicopters); Piasecki Helicopter (subsequently known as Boeing Vertol and Boeing Helicopters); the McDonnell division of McDonnell Douglas; and the former North American Aviation division of Rockwell International.