Space was for sale in 2024 as private missions led by Elon Musk boomed

Private companies reached several milestones in space this year, including the first private lunar lander touchdown and the first civilian spacewalk, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX played a key role in many of these missions.

The first big event for the sector this year came on 22 February, when Texas-based Intuitive Machines landed its Odysseus spacecraft on the moon, making it the first private company to achieve a feat previously only accomplished by national space agencies. Despite the lander tilting unexpectedly, the mission was a success and another…