I think it's just bragging rights to the Nth degree. Some people have too much money on their hands

Those guys waste their money on blasting themselves to space, unlike Bill Gates, he uses his money to fight climate change instead of racing to space.

And what exactly has Bill Gates accomplished other than virtue signaling about his good intentions? These guys are setting up the next big leap for mankind, Bill Gates is busy banging his old Chinese secretaries while showing simps what a good man he is

But bruh, he could be putting that money to good use, like taking 8 minute joy rides in space 20ft above the atmosphere so he can come home and puke about it on the news how he was the 4th person to do so!

Virtue signaling by giving billions away SUX!

Are you living in a developing country? No,then shut the f**k up. You have no clue how things work there, how almost none of the money gets to the actual needy, how the middle men embezzle all the funds, and how these types of foundations get tax breaks in millions while looking good but doing nothing.

I've lived in 2 of these countries and have seen this first hand

On their quest for personal satisfaction or bragging rights - they're advancing the technology for commercial spaceflight.

When the price is low enough, space commerce may become a reality. Mining the moon? Mining asteroids? Space based energy production? Who knows where it may lead - but what is clear, it won't be governments that get us there.

This could also pave the way to terraforming other planets, such as Mars. We could leave this dying planet behind in several generations and start over on an almost healthy planet.

I agree. The money they spend on that could feed whole villages and build wells to provide fresh water for people. Though I'd really like the truth on what they are really doing up there....

That's what the common folks thought about when cars were invented, airplanes started flying, or big computers were being used in research labs. It's very narrow-minded thinking. One day, commercial space travel will be affordable too, but someone's gotta kick-start it, and that needs money, not magical kumbaya thoughts.

i think at least Elon Musk has good intentions with his space stuff lol

Better than NASA doing nothing

NASA is trying to get us to Mars

So is Elon Musk

Using the very tech that NASA created and built, just with lcd touch screens.

True

They would’ve gotten us there quicker if they kept the same pace as the space race

I mean they only have one chance to launch every four years

That's the problem.

I’m pretty sure they are launching in like 2025

Oh! Hey hardy!

Yo my man

If you look back through history at other forms of transportation they usually start with the wealthy and ultra-wealthy, such as with cars and trains, and then move down to the middle-lower classes as the technology progresses. I like to think of this as the beginning of a new form of transportation maybe in 40-50 years I myself might be able to enjoy.

Imagine what could be done with that money though. Helping the poor, feeding the poverished, fixing the homeless situation. But all this money just so a few billionaires can go to space.. I'm sorry it just seems absolutely stupid and selfish. I don't disagree with you often, but this time I disagree

It's not selfish at all, seems you're just jealous that you didn't get the money. These guys earned the money, they don't owe it to you or the poor

And of course a simple remedy for those who have issue with it is to take their own money and buy Larry begging for change outside the door at 7-11 a sandwich or two. A day.

Think how many you could have fed with what you paid for your device and the electricity it guzzles everyday...

Yes, part of the thrill is as a vanity thing with these fellas, but that's also money no longer just collecting interest in a bank in the Caymans. That money wasn't going to do anything otherwise that the money on our debit cards isn't either.

1) those guys are doofuses, and have an over-inflated sense of their worth.

2) BUT it was time for near-earth orbit operations to be privatized and moved out of the public sector. Which may seem weird coming from me, but the innovation left in near-earth functions are within smaller expectations. Going someplace like Saturn and other functions are best for something like NASA, which has no obligation to be profitable like a private company.

It's an ego trip.
Just because you can get into orbit for 200 billion dollars doesn't mean you should.
It serves no business purpose unless they work together with world governments to send mining robots to the moon. And "working together" isn't something they will do. Because, again it's an ego trip.

Well, that's only my thought so pls dont attack me

It's a step for these companies, they just completed a suborbital flight into space and its the first time that's ever been done by a private company with humans onboard

Um, the Space-X Dragon module took astronauts to the ISS in 2020.

Really?

I must be an idiot

Also, don't be hard on yourself... Bezos and Branson have been loudly competing for 2nd place...Musk is being ignored because he's got conservative values.

https://www.spacex.com/human-spaceflight/iss/index.html

I think they're taking huge steps to commercializing space travel, albeit it probably won't be for another few decades.

Stupid

Why?

They should be left there with one day of rations for the three of them see how long they last

Would somebody tell that guy that has been on the median with his cardboard sign for so long there's a trail in the dirt where he paces that Jeff Bezos could've bought him and millions of others a house but wanted to spend 4 minutes in space? I don't think I understand it well enough to explain...

It doesn't matter how fast they get their, Elon will go in style on his own private SpaceX rocket. Bill will be an old, lame dude. And Jeff will win, but it doesn't matter because he's bald.

Idk

It's good. It's the private version of the space race, with the end goal to reach Mars. The most development in space travel happened in the space race. The biggest driver of progress is competition

Do it. If they die, whatever. They’re just people.