USA TODAY — Tapping popular interest in space exploration and science fiction, space start-ups are increasingly seeking funding from a new source: You.
Through crowdfunding campaigns and other donations, companies and foundations are offering the public the chance to take pictures from space, develop a space elevator, even save the world from a cataclysmic asteroid strike.
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Each believes it is “democratizing” participation in space projects long dominated by big government programs — often inspiring, but mostly out of reach beyond kid dreams of becoming an astronaut.
“Space is and should be accessible,” said Tim DeBenedictis, founder of San Francisco-based Southern Stars, which raised money to launch a tiny satellite from Cape Canaveral. “It’s no longer something that we just did in 1969. It shouldn’t be something that only billionaires can afford. It should be something that really belongs to everybody.”
Read more at USA Today.
