Space Wars: The Final Frontier

Sunday, September 21, 2014, 11:07 AM -

First it was a competition between two countries. Then it was a bidding war for a NASA contract. Now, the latest iteration of the Space Race involves two private companies trying to outperform each other.

After the end of their Shuttle program in 2011, the U.S. has been piggybacking rides on Russian shuttles—at the cost of $70 million a seat. NASA and the private sector are teaming up to return manned spaceflights to the United States.

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In a recent press conference, NASA informed the general public that it was awarding $4.2 billion to Boeing and $2.6 billion to SpaceX in return for six launches into space.

While initial reports suggest that Boeing, the veteran and responsible for building every US manned spacecraft, won the contract; the fact that SpaceX also got a slice of a pie is painting a different picture.

While many consider Boeing to still be the "winner" because they received more money, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk is now countering that they can offer double what Boeing can—at half the price.

Furthermore, Musk says that the difference in their requirements for landing give SpaceX the edge.

Boeing counters that Musk's suggestions are false but what's clear is that we're entering a new era of the space race: one that neither of these companies are willing to lose.