Those days are long gone, as the commercial space industry becomes increasingly crowded with companies geared toward such diverse goals as launching small satellites and mining the moon for minerals.

This has made the commercial sector increasingly active for investors. A January report from an aerospace consulting firm, the Tauri Group, found that space start-ups have attracted more than $13.3bn of investment, including $5.1bn of debt financing, since 2000. Nearly two-thirds of that investment funding has come in the last five years.

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