dime of the clients. >> greed... >> bernie was stealing every nickel but he wasn't trading anything. >> ... and entitlement. >> you took my grandchildren's future away from them. ♪ the business of space, a new age is dawning for space exploration, a new commercial space age. >> we're democratizing space. it's about you and me, not just some massive government program. >> private american companies racing to advance the technology that will challenge our concept of space. they call it a new frontier. >> i believe that it's on the

frontier that we advance our technology. it's on the front tier that we advance as a species. >> billion airs and start ups alike see it as a future. >> we believe a hunk of the moon you could hold in your hands dollars. >> there is another place for us as people to be able to thrive and develop and grow. >> and to make billions even trillions in the process. >> there will be losses of money, business plans will fail. >> it's a high-stakes investment with no guarantees. and when the absolute worse-case scenario becomes reality. >> tell us how you felt when you heard yesterday?

>> gutted. >> space. ♪ >> 2014 has been a tough year for america's commercial space industry. in october, a private craft delivering cargo to the international space station exploded at launch. that same week a west flight of virgin galactic went terribly wrong. but commercial space explore race has grown into a $314 billion industry. and that could double by 2030. no matter the risks, there is no shortage of seed money rushing in to fund this new private push into space. since 2003, investors have put in $2.5 billion. the rewards of success could be

even higher than the risks. once upon a time the united states government lead the race into space. we remember nasa taking man to the moon and beyond. today the u.s. is still at the head this time as the epicenter of a new commercial space industry. and one day tourists could board fights that actually take them into space. it's a question too tempting for some venture capitalists to ignore. what is the return of investment on a whole new world? >> rockets and spaceships, satellites and asteroid miners. moon landers and space ports, and even 3-d printers. innovation. >> space is about two things, exploration, and how you go and exploit it and profit off of it. >> many in the last four years the u.s. commercial space

industry has experienced a major boom. global government spending on space is decreasing as the commercial sector grows. of the $314 billion global space industry, the united states spends $74 billion on space. around $17 billion of that goes to nasa. $122 billion is made up of commercial space products. and $117 billion goes to space infrastructure, building spacecraft, launch pads, rockets, insurance, and research and development. the american space industry got a boost on april 15th, 2010. >> we are work with a growing array of private companies. >> that's when president obama promised nasa $6 billion over the next five years to seed private space companies.

>> that opened up a lot of opportunity for clever ambitious people, business people who thought they could do things cheaper or faster. >> nasa spent about $2.5 billion of that money by the end of 2014. >> almost every private space company that you look at right now, is in some way benefits from nasa. >> nasa has pumped an additional $7 billion with two companies to build spaceships that will take american station. >> we can imagine these partnerships extending to other locations in the solar system. we're starting to understand the model which we can expacked our economy into space. >> nasa has also spent billions on contracts with two other countries to launch cargo to the space station. >> they are really engaging the private sector, the schedule and

cost discipline of the private sector, and also the reliability. >> but it doesn't always work. space ex's competitor, had a massive sethback in october. orbital science's rocket exploded seconds after impact with 5,000 pounds of cargo set for the space station. and we were there that night, cameras rolling. the explosion rang out like a sonic boom that ricochetted out there virginia. the week of october 27th, 2014, brought a one-two punch to the commercial space industry when the rocket exploded and virgin galactic suffered the lost of a

space pilot and shuttle. but the impetus is also exploration. most entrepreneurs have a united vision that was once relegated to space age cartoons. >> i am 100% certain that everybody will have the chance to go to space. it seems far off and expensive, but the same thing happened with aviation. >> just as aviation was expensive hah unreliable in its infancy, so too is the commercial space industry. the biggest hurdle of all? reducing the cost of launch. the cheapest option is space-x's rocket, costs half the cost of its competitors. >> we use essentially the same

technology that sputnik was launched on. >> but it uses a reusable rocket. it could dramatically reduce launch costs. >> i don't see the way the commercial space sector is developing is necessarily going to provide a decent return on investment. >> linda billings sites ronald reagan's state of the union address in 1984. >> in the zero gravity of space, we could manufacture in 30 days life-saving medicines that would take 30 years to make on earth. >> there are a number of possibilities that people were promising that would be wildly successful and hugely profitable, and many have not come to pass. >> but americans got to the moon with less technology than is in a typical iphone.

>> we almost wear more computers than what we had to enable us to get to the moon. >> and now the sky so to speak is no longer the limit. nasa has invested almost $2.5 billion of the government money, and will dedicate billions more in the coming few years. but don't think that nasa is getting out of space exploration. we're joined by nasa's director of commercial space flight. he decides how all of those billions of nasa dollars will be invested in commercial space industries. thank you for being with us. you are taking a bit of exception with the way i set this up. i know you don't think this is a new space economy. you think it is a space economy that has been around for some time, so why does it seem new to so many people? >> well, we're seeing an expansion of space activity recently.

primarily because the cost of access to space has come down. there has been more activity in the orbit and commercial space primarily through wealthy individuals getting into the space business and trying new business plans. we have sort of seen this all along throughout the space industry. people trying to make a profit. but recently there definitely has been an expansion. >> and part of this, of course is that we don't have a shuttle program anymore. so all eyes tend to be on non-nasa stuff even though nasa everything. >> yes, we are still very busy. the things we are doing may not before. and now that we have gotten to the point where low earth orbit operations have been become slightly more of a routine. it is realistic for us to think of the private sector taking

more responsible on that area. >> was that always the plan? we really didn't think about that in the '70s and '80s, that it is not a government function. what changed? >> you know, i think people always dreamed about economic activity in low-earth orbit and even beyond from the beginning of space age, but it only became more realistic i think recently when the cost of access has come down. then you can start to see business plans start to close. innovation starts to emerge. entrepreneurs enter the scene. so it was a confluence of events. it has gotten to be more realistic for the commercial sector to do more. >> is there a combination between a mission driven nasa and the private sector

companies, as you are funding them, do you run into problems when you are dealing with the richest of the rich, and great dreamers, but they don't do things the way a government did. >> i don't see a conflict at all. every group brings something special to the table, and by partnering in this way, we have seen a sinner gistic approach. nasa which is steeped in human space flight, combining that with this innovation with the entrepreneurial sector, we are finding we can do a lot more with a lot less. and in fact it's interdependent. nasa still has its sites on going to an asteroid and to mars one day. and in order to do that, we have to make things more cost effective. and by turning these things over

to the private sector that is making effective. >> thank you very much. nasa wants american spaceations to take astronauts to the space station and beyond. but after the virgin galactic crash, will this industry survive? >> it's a horrible day for travel. >> we were one of the first to gain access to the space port f after that crash. you are watching a special >> a conflict that started 100 year ago, some say, never ended... revealing... untold stories of the valor... >> they opened fire on the english officers... >> sacrifice... >> i order you to die... >> and ultimate betrayal... drawing lines in the sand

that would shape the middle east and frame the conflict today >> world war one: through arab eyes only on al jazeera america

♪ welcome back to the business of space. i'm ali velshi. since 2003, over $2.5 billion have been pumped into developing commercial space flight. the idea is driving the space tourism industry, but recently we got a stark reminder of the risk. we were on the ground just days after the fatal crash. the tone at the space port, somber, on edge.

security was extra tight. at one point asking us to leave. but we are here at the invitation of the ceo of the space port. >> you hear that noise? tested. >> this is roughly equivalent to the silicon valley of commercial space. it's where dozens of companies have chosen to develop their space businesses. they aren't strangers to risk. >> i have been chief executive here for 11 years. one thing i can guarantee when i started is i don't know when the next mishap will occur, but i know it will occur. >> virgin gal lactic was the front runner to take paying passengers into orbit.

but it was a very different narrative after the crash. branson was visibly shaken. >> reporter: how much of a setback is this? [ sighs ] >> um, it depends -- you know, as far as how much of a setback, it bepengd pengd -- depends on what the cause was. >> the crash sent ripples through the space industry especially for its competitors. >> space was not easy. if it was easy there was been a commercial spaceship company offering trips into space. >> the death rate for humans who have gone into space is about 4%. that's 18 of the 430 humans who have flown in space have died. only 2 out of 100 million passengers have died on

commercial air flights in the last decade. as companies compete to get off of the ground, rusty says while tragic, death is inevitable . >> all of us who flew in apollo were very aware that we were in a risky business. you will have failures, and you will have people dying. that's the spice of advancing. >> but critics say that's exactly the problem. high. >> we want to build a spaceship that is 100% safe. >> and space companies are forced to cut corners in order to reduce cost. >> if you try to get to 100% of reliability those last few points cost you a lot of money. so at some point to contain the cost of development, you

sacrifice a point or two of accidents. >> but many in the industry say the private sector can build safe spaceships and will. >> the private sector can do things safely. we have setbacks every once and again, and sometimes people die, but that's okay, because that's what they have chosen to do. >> i want to introduce you to two men who know all about space flight and the risks involved. michael lopez is a former nasa astronaut and former president of the commercial space flight organization. gentlemen thank you so much for being with us. you heard richard branson saying the accident was a massive setback for virgin galactic. what kind of a setback are we

talking about. obviously it wouldn't have been appropriate for him to say not that big of deal in the context. but how big of setback is it? >> for virgin it is a significant setback as a company. for the industry it's a little bit like the stock market, you have a downturn, and then it comes back up. for virgin it depends on openness and transparency, which to their credit they have been. they have been very clear about what they found so far. and it depends on how long it will take to make the fix. so i don't know they are out of it by any means. moments and days after the mishap, branson and others are visibly shaken, but i'm sure they are regrouping and moving forward. >> michael until the crash the understanding was until you actually took passengers into face. the federal aviation administration was going to keep

its mitts off, unless there was a fatality. so they now have the right to move in. what do you think that means for the regulation of the commercial space flight industry? and whether it will slow it down? >> i think we are unique in that we have a very good relationship with the regulators, the faa office, but you are right. they now have the authority to impose regulation. it's a very long process to have to go through a series of public comments and things like that. and we have asked them not to regulate until we have enough data in which to base sound regulation. and now we have one data point. i think most people would say that's not enough to create a whole series of regulations, but it will be interesting to see how they proceed. >> virgin thought they would first be in space in 2007, but when you think back to game-changing technologies, back

to the boeing 747, it was delayed a great deal. these advances, does it seem to be too much of a delay? >> no, i think it's perfectly in family. as richard branson said if it were easy, everybody would be doing it. people at the beginning are always optimistic, and problems arise in any development. so i don't think this is something to be terribly surprised by or worried about. we'll get there one day. >> leroy i described you as a space entrepreneur, and there's not necessarily big money in it all the time, but it might make the world. >> i think around ten years ago

you saw the companies coming up, and it was a little bit like the microcomputer storm when a lot of different companies sprung up. frankly speaking a lot of charlottetons, and that has been weeded out, and you have a few survivors and a new comers starting up as well. so i think this is here to stay. it's going to be a big deal. you heard richard branson in earlier interviews saying he felt that virgin galactic was going to be the biggest part of the virgin holings. >> genth mepranum thank you so much for taking your time out, they both flew on a challenger shuttle mission together. the new commercial space tourism. >> we believe a hunk of the moon you could hold in your hands dollars. >> mining the moon is just two

minutes away when the business of space continues. ♪ former fbi special agent ali soufan. >> if that specific information was shared with to the fbi agent 911 could have been stopped at its early stages. >> the ethics of torture, preventing terrorism and combatting isil. >> islamic state, their strategy differs from al qaeda because for the first time now they are controlling land. >> every saturday join us for exclusive, revealing and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. >> only on al jazeera america.

♪ welcome back to the business of space. i'm ali velshi. this is an extraordinary time in history. the u.s. government is handing the reins to private companies to explore the moon. some say a trip to the moon

isn't anymore complicated that planning an extended mission to antarctica. as jake ward reports two companies have a single focus, billions. ♪ >> reporter: moon express and astro bottic are competitors in a very small emerging market. >> we see the moon as the eighth continent of the world. >> we believe a hunk of the moon that you could hold in your dollars. >> reporter: both companies are building unmanned spacecraft moon. >> payloads can mount above the deck and below the deck. things like expe expeer-- experiments.

we're like the local utility. >> reporter: moon express's spacecraft is smaller, and holds about 80 pounds. >> the design of our vehicle, our little spacecraft -- here it is right here. it's -- notice it's like a little flying saucer is. there is a payload deck. it can get all the way to the moons of mars. >> reporter: the -- ambition of both companies to launch facilities that can go even deeper in space. >> the moon is a stepping-stone to bigger and better things. mainly mars. we need to start with the moon. it's in our backyard. >> reporter: nasa announced that both companies will be a part of its lunar catalyst program. they will help develop the space

program with one day making cargo to the moon. >> nasa is moving on to the frontier challenges like going to mars. but we also think and recognize that it is very important to continue our economic expansion of the lunar surface as well. >> the ultimate goal is to promote a competitive market, but there's another layer to the competition here. the $40 million google lunar x-price. $20 million for the 1 company to drive 500 meters on the moon and send back hd images in real time. they are competing for the prize along with 16 other companies around the globe. astro bottic has pro -- proposed splitting the launching cost.

>> this is red rover. this is our entrant to the google x race. >> >> reporter: they are selling advertising space and the lander. >> it will be full of dishth logos and different opportunities for companies to have their messaging and branding and social experiences happening on the moon. >> reporter: it's competition for the sport and for business. both companies will be carrying paying customer payloads to the moon. castro bottic will bring among other things an japanese sports drink. >> it will be the first drink to land on the moon and serve as a time capsule for the kids of japan to put their dreams in. >> reporter: until now this is what moon exploration looked like to americans. apollo missions, astronauts, a bit of golf. now it's

sports drinks. but commercializing space means just that. commercial. >> here is jim and i when we were testing the lunar module. when you start seeing a really creative innovative lander on the moon, and you have a close-up on it and there's budweiser, you know, or nascar or some other advertising symbol, there's a little bit of -- you know, puts some ambiguity into the game. >> reporter: but he says sponsors are money. and that's the key to developing commercial space and all that comes with it. >> innovation is the secret to the future. that's what will enable my grandkids to look up on the moon and see lights of towns and settlements, and cities maybe. who knows. >> jacob ward joins us from san francisco. it's mind boggling when you see