Astronomy Cast Ep. 759: The Commercial Space Program

The 365 Days of Astronomy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clLLqzWyT-Q

Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay

Streamed live on Jun 9, 2025.

Humanity has turned its focus back to the Moon, sending a fleet of spacecraft to the lunar surface. Some are run by the government, but there’s a whole new group of commercial landers bearing instruments to the lunar surface. Is this the future of lunar exploration? Space used to be a place occupied by government-funded and military missions, but today, we're seeing the rise... and fall (somersault, crash, and explosion) of missions with commercial design and funding. Let's talk about how this is good, bad, and maybe just too soon.

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