IEverything has changed in space travel in recent years, and this can be summed up in one sentence. “There are about 6,500 satellites in space, of which about 3,000 belong to the American multi-billionaire Elon Musk,” says Rolf Densing, ESA’s European Space Agency director for mission operations. There are private individuals, new goals are set: Space X, Musk’s space company, wants to send another 42,000 satellites into orbit in the coming years. It is also heading to the moon and Mars, even in manned space travel. Densing likes it. He sounds a bit like the saying “competition is good for business” when he talks about the influence of private space operators.