Alex McColgan

compared to SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, which Elon Musk claims would only cost NASA $150 million per launch.

Now, the SLS would get a little less than twice the amount of cargo to low Earth orbit, 130 tonnes compared to Falcon Heavy's 70 tonnes.

However, we are seeing signs already that maybe the private sector can do it better.

We are still in early days yet.

In the coming years, seeing the reliability of all the craft will be one of the most important factors to decide whether one way or another is the most successful path or not.

but the fact that there are now options will be crucially important for the future of spaceflight.

So, well done SpaceX and NASA, and good luck Boeing and the teams behind the SLS and all other space agencies around the world.

Let's make this upcoming decade one to remember for space travel.

When you think of the space race, you probably imagine the tense Cold War era battle between the US and the Soviet Union.

But what if I told you there was another player in the game?

While the superpowers wrestled for space dominance, a small and newly independent nation started developing its own ambitions of reaching the stars and beating the big dogs to it.

The story of Zambia's space program is a great example of humanity's overpowering curiosity to explore and understand the cosmos no matter where we're from, and how far we're willing to go to do so.

It's also a reminder that history is shaped by those who get to tell it, and it isn't only the loudest voices that leave the biggest legacies.

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

Join me today as we dive into the little-known story of the Zambian Space Program, their proposed mission, unconventional training practices, and the lasting impact of their leader's vision.

After World War II, the US and the Soviet Union realised that in a world with nuclear weapons, there can only be one superpower.

They entered a bitter struggle for dominance, each racing to stay one step ahead of the other, engineering increasingly powerful rocketry and weapons technology.

It didn't take long for their arms race to become a space race.

By the early 1960s, new milestones in space exploration were being made every year.

Both programs had unwavering political and public support, which meant lots of funding, press and progress.