Before getting into which public companies are participating in Space Race 2.0, let’s discuss what projects define the race.

The highest priority seems to be getting back to the Moon and asserting at least some level of ownership of all or parts of it. Through the Artemis Program, NASA is several steps along the way towards re-landing men on the Moon in 2025. They also plan to build a Moon base by the end of the decade.

China has publicly stated that they are also working to land men on the Moon, but not until in 2030. To date, they have already landed probes on the Moon and have their own space station to take over when the International Space Station (ISS) is decommissioned in 2030. In addition, China aims to have established a Moon station in the mid 2030s.

The Billionaire Space Race
Running almost in parallel with the race to colonize the Moon, is a competition among private companies to create a space tourism industry for normal civilians. Jeff Bezos and his space tourism company Blue Origin have been outspoken about creating orbiting space hotels and preserving the Earth as a nature park.

However, before attempting that lofty goal, Blue Origin is focused on taking paying civilians into sub-orbital space. It has now successfully completed seven crewed launches of paying customers.

Another billionaire focused on creating a space tourism industry is Sir Richard Branson. His companies Virgin Galactic (NASDAQ:SPCE) and Virgin Orbit were founded in 2004 and 2017 respectively. Although Virgin Orbit was recently shut down due to lack of funding, Virgin Galactic has been successful in many ways.

It is the first spaceflight company to successfully launch its founder into sub-orbit. It also beat Blue Origin into space. This past June, the company announced that it had completed all its safety testing and would start commercial service. It successfully launched its first commercial flight to sub orbit on June 29, 2023.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been instrumental in a variety of important activities. These include ferrying supplies and astronauts to the ISS and executing the Starlink Program that endeavors to set up global satellite based internet access. It has only one commercial flight to date, and it marks the first time civilians were sent into full orbit around the planet.

Although Blue Origin is privately held by Bezos, and SpaceX is also privately held, it is possible to invest in Virgin Galactic. The company went public at the end of October 2019.

Public Companies Helping to Drive Space Race 2.0
Going all the way back to the Appollo Missions and the Saturn Rockets, Boeing (NYSE:BA) has worked hand-in-hand with NASA to support its success. Nothing has changed and Boeing is an integral part of the Artemis program. It is currently responsible for building the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket which is designed to be the most powerful rocket ever and to take astronauts and probes into deep space.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) also has been involved with NASA’s projects since the Apollo Program. In fact, it built the solid propellant launch escape motor and the pitch control motor for the Apollo 11 spacecraft. Its current main contributions to Space Race 2.0 include developing and building the Orion Capsule / spacecraft that will be the crew compartment on top of the SLS. If is also involved, along with Blue Origin, with developing and building a lunar lander that will ferry crews from the Orion spacecraft down to the lunar service.

As a final public company critical to Space Race 2.0 to mention here, Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE:AJRD) will build the rocket motors that will propel the SLS into orbit. The company has a long history of providing rocket engines to NASA. Its engines were used in the Apollo 11 mission. AJRD is in merger talks with L3Harris (NYSE:LHX) but the deal has to get through Congress. A merger attempt by LMT failed a couple years ago.