Timeline of the privatization of the U.S Space Program
Wernher von Braun arrives at Ft. Bliss, Texas, with six other German rocket specialists.
Sep. 29, 1945
American test pilot Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier for the first time in the X-1.
Oct. 14, 1947
A Vanguard TV-3 carrying a grapefruit-sized satellite explodes at launch.
Dec. 6, 1957
Explorer 1, the first satellite with a data collection system, is launched by the United States into orbit aboard a Juno rocket.
Jan. 31, 1958
OSCAR 1, the first amateur built satellite, is launched aboard an American Thor-Agena rocket.
Dec. 12, 1961
President John F. Kennedy signs the Communications Satellite Act of 1962 providing the basis for private companies in the United States to own and operate their own satellites.
Aug. 31, 1962
President Ronald Reagan signs the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984, which mandates NASA to encourage private spaceflight, and authorizes the Office of Commercial Space Transportation to regulate private spaceflight in the United States.
Oct. 30, 1984
Pegasus, an air launched rocket, becomes the first privately developed vehicle to reach space along with being the first air powered to do so. It was developed by Orbital ATK.
Apr. 30 1990
SpaceX successfully launches and recovers its Dragon capsule on its first mission, marking the first time a privately developed and operated spacecraft is recovered from orbit.
Dec. 8, 2010
President Barack Obama signs the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015, which enables American companies to own material resources extracted in outer space.
Sept. 9, 1982
May 25 , 2012
''NASA's New Horizons spacecraft arrives at Pluto after a journey of more than 9 years and 4.6 billion miles. As the spacecraft makes its closest approach, it passes only 7,750 miles (12,472 km) from the surface of the dwarf planet and captures amazing high-resolution images of Pluto and its largest moon Charon. New data shows that Pluto is about 50 miles (80 km) larger than previously thought and that it has a nitrogen atmosphere extending tens of thousands of miles out into space.'' (Sea and Sky, 2016)
Sep. 28, 2008 July 14, 2015 Nov. 25, 2015
SpaceX’s Dragon capsule successfully joins with the International Space Station. This makes it the first private spacecraft to join with the I.S.S.
Conestoga 1 is launched from Texas by Space Services Inc. Conestoga I then becomes the first privately owned and operated rocket to make it to space.
President George W. Bush signs the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004. It provides a basic legal framework for commercial human spaceflight. It also makes a temporary ban on the FAA’s ability to regulate private spaceflight.
Dec. 23, 2004
SpaceX has a first successful launch of its Falcon 1 rocket. Falcon 1 then becomes the first private liquid fueled rocket to reach orbit.
