Can space industry survive two explosions in four days?

In the past decade, the space industry has tried to go from risky and government-run to routine private enterprise—so routine that if you have lots of money, you can buy a ticket on a private spaceship and become a space tourist. But it all depends on flying becoming safe and routine. This week hasn’t helped. The two explosions this week reignited the debate about the role of business in space and whether it is or will ever be safe enough for everyday people looking for an expensive 50-mile-high thrill ride.

It’s a real setback to the idea that lots of people are going to be taking joyrides into the fringes of outer space any time soon.

John Logsdon, retired space policy director at George Washington University

Some experts said they worry that private industry may just not be as safe as the government when it comes to going into space. Jerry Linenger, a former astronaut who narrowly survived a 1997 fire on the Russian space station Mir, said private industry lacks the experience and the advocates for safety that NASA had when he was launching into space. The leaner management of private companies leaves no margin for error, which isn’t something to tout when living on the boundaries of the atmosphere.

[It] is like flying an airplane without a qualified pilot. You really need to do it right.

Howard McCurdy, American University space policy professor and author, who said the space program may be going through the growing pains similar to those of the early days of aviation

Science space crash