Alex McColgan

After Artemis III, there are up to four more proposed missions, which will continue to expand Gateway as a hub for more lunar missions, but with the end goal looking to finally send humans to Mars.

So, fingers crossed for the success of these missions.

I feel like exploration is in humanity's blood, and these really are the new frontiers in this day and age.

And with China pressing ahead with their own space program, we could be in for some exciting years ahead with regards to space exploration.

You may have heard in the news last year that Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos have become the first billionaires to get into space themselves.

Whatever your thoughts on this, it marks a fascinating point in human history.

In the past, the space race was exclusively a contest or collaboration of nations.

But now private companies are beginning to enter the fray.

Why this sudden change?

And what does this mean for the future of space travel and exploration now that businesses are starting to look to the stars?

What might it mean for humanity's future?

I'm Alex McColgan, and you're watching Astrum.

And while it might be a little too early to say for sure what the future brings,

We can perhaps gain greater insights into these questions by looking at why some of these companies and individuals are reaching for the stars.

The commercialization of space is not a new thing.

In 1962, just five years after the first artificial satellite was launched by the USSR, the first commercial satellite, Telstar 1, was launched by the AT&T Corporation as a means of broadcasting American television programs to Europe.

It was launched using a NASA rocket.

In 1975, Autragg, or the first company to attempt to develop an alternative propulsion system for rockets, was founded in Stuttgart, Germany.

And in 1984, the US President Ronald Reagan signed the Commercial Space Launch Act, intending to encourage companies to explore space.

Satellites have been a staple of modern life for many years now, enabling internet connections and helping us to navigate through tools like satnavs, among other things.