SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket today from Cape Canaveral and reached Earth orbit, according to an article in Business Week.

We all know by now that Britain has survived another election and another change of names and faces, most of them not at all familiar to us here in the colonies. Quite often, when the administration changes, so do many of the programs, policies, and priorities the previous administration tried so hard to implement. Sometimes that’s a good thing, like cancelling the over-budget, behind schedule, and outdated Constellation project begun during the Bush administration, but sometimes good programs are halted or just don’t have the support they need.

Here on Earth, the problem of trash has become an eco-minded opportunity for recycling and reuse. But in space, trash is nothing but a problem. Debris in low Earth orbit ( LEO), such as rocket slag and defunct satellites, are becoming a congestion hazard.

Look up, Indy 500 fans. The next great race may be in the clouds.

Energiya, the go-to manufacturer for the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos), is planning to build a six-person craft, which will have room for three space tourists.

New York City is home of the Empire State Building, the New York Yankees, Central Park, and the office of the Space Future Journal. And if Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressperson Jerrold Nadler have their way, New York will have a new bullet point on the list of local destinations: a space shuttle.

The announcement that Richard Branson has sold a 32% stake in Virgin Galactic to Sheikh Mansour for $280m, reported on Bloomberg and widely in the press, puts a valuation on a space tourism company into the public domain for the first time and gives the nascent industry a higher profile in the financial world.

Years ago actors Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland popularized a now-famous show business cliché: “Let’s fix up the old barn and put on a show!”