SpaceX’s Big Year

2018 has been a monumental year for SpaceX. In February, the Falcon Heavy rocket made history with a successful launch, carrying Elon Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster into space—complete with a mannequin astronaut named “Starman.” This launch proved that reusable rockets could dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration, a key milestone in Musk’s long-term goal of Mars colonization.

Looking ahead, SpaceX is gearing up to send private tourists around the Moon, with missions planned as early as 2019. Meanwhile, NASA and competitors like Blue Origin are also accelerating their own space initiatives, ushering in a new era of commercial space travel. As technology advances and costs continue to fall, space tourism may become a reality within the next decade.