When Atlantis launched on Friday morning, it was the last of NASA’s space shuttle flights.
The event marks the end of a 30-year program that has put 777 people in orbit.
But it is not the end of space exploration in the United States. Companies have been engaging in a private sector space race alongside and in partnership with NASA for quite some time.
In April, NASA awarded four of these companies $269 million to develop spacecraft, and companies in the private sector have also established expertise in other aspects of space travel, like space suits and climate control. Some are even famously selling tickets for consumer space flights.
Here are what some of them are working on.
1. Armadillo Aerospace
What it does: Builds reusable rocket-powered vehicles.
Claim to fame: An exclusive agreement with Space Adventures, a consumer space travel company. "Eventually, we wish to provide a platform for civilian flights to suborbital space, and ultimately, we plan to reach orbit," reads the site's FAQ.
2. Masten Space
What it does: Designs and builds reusable space vehicles. Unlike most other commercial space companies, Masten specializes in unmanned, suborbital flights.
3. Oribital Outfitters
What it does: makes space suits for commercial and government space travels.
Most interesting project: Orbital Outfitters partnered with a company called SpaceDiver on a project that will demonstrate the capability to dive from a space shuttle and return to Earth safely.
4. Oribital Sciences
What it does: About 3,700 employees help make space launch vehicles, missile defense systems and satellites as well as offer space technical services at this more than 29-year-old company. It's like a department store for space.
Claim to Fame: In 2002, the company signed its largest contract ever: $900 million to develop, build, test and support missile interceptor booster vehicles for the Boeing Company.
5. Paragon Space Development
What it does: Makes environmental controls for extreme and hazardous environments, like space.
Claims to fame: Paragon is responsible for the first full-motion, long-duration video (4 months, 60 total minutes) of plant and animal growth on orbit, the first multigenerational animal experiment in space and the first commercial experiment on the International Space Station.
6. Virgin Galactic
What it does: Sells tickets for consumer space trips. The company has already sold about 430 tickets.
Cost per ticket: $200,000
7. XCOR Aerospace
What it does: Flight vehicles, piston pumps and rocket engines. And of course, consumer sub-orbital space travel. Its two rocket-powered vehicles, the X-Racer and EX-Rocket, have safely completed 67 piloted demonstrations.
Cost per ticket: $95,000
8. SpaceX
What it does: Space transport. Eventually wants to put a man on Mars.
Famous Founder: SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk, the cofounder of PayPal and Tesla Motors.
9. Blue Origin
What it does: Develops vehicles and technologies to lower the cost and increase the reliability of human access to space.
What Amazon and space have in common: Blue Origin is owned by Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos.
10. Bigelow Aerospace
What it does: "Expandable space habitat technology." The company creates space stations that have more breathing room than your everyday "aluminum can" International Space Station by using inflatable components. Eventually it hopes to lease space on one of its stations for experiments and research. Two prototypes are already in orbit.
Great Expectations: "We anticipate construction of our first space station to begin with a Sundancer launched in early 2014, and that by 2015 the station will be available for client use," says Bigelow's website.
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