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Abstract
Tycoons such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Virgin Group’s Richard Branson own companies that are competing to carry cargo and people — including tourists — into space. In the past companies have built space equipment and conducted space flights under NASA contracts. But experts say firms today have more flexibility to strike out on their own. NASA continues to manage U.S. participation in the international space program and plans future missions, including sending humans to Mars. Lockheed Martin Corp. recently announced a “technology road map” for providing equipment for NASA’s Mars program. NASA and scientific institutions continue to conduct most research done with telescopes, unmanned satellites and other instruments, which made several important space-related discoveries over the last year.