Virgin Galactic is planning to commence commercial suborbital flights in 2013. Spaceport America is gearing up, and other spaceports are being developed. SpaceX plans to make continued progress both towards upgrading its Falcon 9/Dragon stack to man-rated status and developing a reusable rocket. Other companies are developing both suborbital and orbital manned vehicles of various configurations and concepts. The Google Lunar X-Prize, a contest to put private rovers on the Moon, may see launches in 2013.
If all the plans work out, 2013 may ultimately be viewed as a watershed year in the move into space of private enterprise.
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