A new era of commercial space exploration is unfolding, with 2025 poised to be a transformative year for startups and small private space companies. Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman’s potential confirmation as NASA administrator has sparked excitement about the agency’s plans to use agile space companies to achieve its goals.
The entrepreneurial spirit in the industry is evident in the recent partnership between SpaceX, Palantir, and OpenAI, which aims to bid for lucrative government space contracts. However, it’s rocket technology that will drive most of the commercial space advances in 2025.
Two companies, Rocket Lab and Blue Origin, are leading the charge with their new rockets. Rocket Lab’s Neutron is a large, reusable successor to its Electron launcher, with a planned low-launch cost of under $50 million. The 141-foot-tall rocket will launch up to 28,000 pounds of satellites into low Earth orbit.
Blue Origin’s New Glenn is also set to make its debut in early 2025, with the ability to launch 99,000 pounds of satellites at one time. Its development has been rapid, and the company’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, is eager to showcase his rocket’s capabilities after years of secrecy.
The most significant rocket news of 2025 will likely be SpaceX’s Starship. The massive stainless steel monster is designed to be fully reusable, with both its Super Heavy booster stage and Ship upper stage able to fly back through the atmosphere and be caught by a mechanism on the same launch tower. With each launch predicted to cost as little as $1 million, Starship has the potential to completely upend the satellite launch industry.
Source: https://www.inc.com/kit-eaton/2025-the-year-commercial-space-reaches-even-higher/91070231