Rural Town Becomes “Silicon Valley” of Space Race

Global Business

For years, NASA has required Russian assistance to put astronauts and cargo into space. Now – private companies such as SpaceX are giving NASA hope for an end to Russian dependence. California’s Mojave Desert is now a hotbed for private aerospace companies. They’re imagining a future of space travel, and space tourism, that may be closer than you think.
Down in the desert about 90 minutes north of Los Angeles is  the town of Mojave a dusty , somewhat disheveled place peppered with wind farms, winding railroads and non-descript buildings. At first glance it might appear a dying town. But everything is not what it appears.

Peer a little closer inside and you’ll find a hotbed of innovation and incubator for the new space age.  More than 70 aerospace ventures are doing just that from the big corporations like Space-X Virgin Galactic to smaller, independent operations like XCore and InterOrbital Systems. This has become a hub of new space technology and testing.  CCTV’s Yakenda McGahee reports.

Rural Town Becomes “Silicon Valley” of Space Race

Like the Joshua Tree that dots it's landscape, space-age roots run deep in the Mojave Desert in southern California. In 1947 Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier here in 2004 Space Ship One made the world's first commercial space flights and today this has become a burgeoning hub of space research and technology. It's been called "The Silicon Valley Effect" as dozens of private aerospace companies flock to the area and join the new-age space race CCTV's YaKenda McGahee has the story.


Ryan Faith, Defense and National Security Editor for VICE News, provides a in depth look at the future of space tourism and the business behind it.

The Future of Space Tourism

Ryan Faith, Defense and National Security Editor for VICE News, provides a in depth look at the future of space tourism and the business behind it.