Here's a look at the last 25 years of spaceflight from 1999 to 2024 during the first 25 years of Space.com. From the retirement of NASA's space shuttle program, to the new giant leap that is NASA's Artemis moon missions, private space travel and more, see how spaceflight has changed over the last quarter century.
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00:00It's hard to believe what can happen in 25 years.
00:04At the turn of the century, the only astronauts were through government programs.
00:08Space tourism was rare.
00:11And it wasn't until 2004 that President George W. Bush signed off on a law
00:16to put more focus on the commercial space program.
00:20The decade began with the loss of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003,
00:30and it took a few years until the program was fully back on track.
00:35Expeditions also continued for uncrewed missions to explore other planets,
00:39including the first Mars exploration rover in 2004.
00:44The space shuttle era concluded in 2011,
00:47and the U.S. had to rely on Russia to provide rides for NASA astronauts
00:51to and from the International Space Station.
00:54Commercial space travel became front and center
00:57with NASA contracts awarded to build space taxis in 2014,
01:01with SpaceX at the forefront as the first private spaceflight company
01:05to send humans back into orbit in 2020 in its commercial crew spacecraft.
01:11Since then, new missions continue to arise,
01:14including both private and government-funded space travel
01:17for both astronauts and cargo to the ISS, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
01:28Dennis Tito kicked off the term space tourist
01:32as the first to head to the ISS in 2001 on his own dime.
01:37That was just the beginning of the crave to get into space.
01:42The desire to reach the stars made headlines in the last decade.
01:46Aerospace companies such as Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, and SpaceX
01:50sold seats on missions to spend time in zero gravity.
01:54And in addition to more suborbital and orbital trips,
01:58plans are underway for space hotels, a spacewalk, even balloon rides in style.
02:05The International Space Station is getting old,
02:12floating since 1998 and retiring at the end of 2030.
02:17NASA has awarded hundreds of millions of dollars
02:20to fund private companies for new models,
02:23and the quest is on to get the world's first private space station in orbit.
02:28Axiom Space plans to build its orbital outpost off of the ISS
02:32and dock its first module by 2026.
02:35Vast also has its hat in the ring to launch its first private space station in 2025.
02:41There are also private company teams working to build low-Earth orbit projects,
02:45Orbital Reef, and Starlab, with goals to be operational later this decade.
02:55Artificial intelligence is everywhere,
02:58and it's especially transforming space travel.
03:01Humans can only do so much while in orbit, and AI is helping fill in the gaps.
03:06It's been used to help with a variety of things,
03:08including navigation and operation systems, servicing, medical assistance,
03:13and identifying what's happening outside the spacecraft.
03:17On the ground, AI has also been used in developing and building designs
03:21for satellites, rockets, and spacecraft,
03:24and can play an important role in all the calculations.
03:32Speaking of other worlds, how about UFOs?
03:36They are still a hot topic both for the government and the public.
03:41In March, the Pentagon UFO Office found, quote,
03:44no empirical evidence, unquote, for alien technology,
03:48causing quite the conversation.
03:50This isn't the first study, and certainly won't be the last.
03:54There have been about 98,000 reports and growing over 20 years,
03:59cataloged by the National UFO Research Center.
04:07And the next 25 years?
04:09With the commercial space sector soaring
04:11and teaming up with other agencies from around the world,
04:14the progress will be substantial.
04:17Human expeditions will return to the Moon, and eventually Mars.
04:21Low Earth orbit will be packed with satellites,
04:24orbital outposts, space planes, and other spacecraft.
04:29There will even be more benefits to Earth
04:31from medical and scientific research.
04:34And, of course, the thought of vacations to space,
04:38or as a bucket list item,
04:40will be more of a reality than ever before.
04:43Space is no longer science fiction.
04:47This is just the beginning, and we are just getting started.
04:51For Space.com, I'm Meredith Garfalo.