Commercial

In a move emphasizing NASA's desire to focus on deep space exploration instead of low-Earth orbit (LEO) activities, the space agency is opening the International Space Station (ISS) to limited commercial use, including hosting private astronauts.

Groupe PSA, responsible for some 25 percent of all light commercial vehicle sales in the UK, has affirmed a commitment to electrification at the Birmingham Commercial Vehicle Show, showing a new Peugeot Boxer and Citroen Relay based on an electric platform.

NASA has selected a dozen science experiments and technology demonstrators that could land on the Moon as early as the end of 2019. Slated to fly on commercial lunar missions, the instruments and new technologies are intended to support later missions.

Commercial spaceflight looks set to produce tangible products for use on Earth after Space Tango announced that it is developing an autonomous, robotic orbital platform called ST-42 that will take advantage of the microgravity environment to produce items for various industries.

​Volkswagen has released a silent flurry of new electrics, including a commercial version of its popular I.D. Buzz electric Kombi van. The I.D. Buzz Cargo concept is a mobile workshop with integrated laptops, level 4 autonomy, automated inventory and a whopping 550-km (342 mi) range.

Stratolaunch has yet to send its first payload into orbit, but the company announced today that it is developing a new family of air-launched boosters that will enter service in 2020. The four rockets of various sizes will be carried by the world's largest aircraft, the Stratolaunch.

NASA is giving commercial spaceflight a boost by awarding six American companies ten contracts worth a total of US$44 million to develop what the space agency calls "tipping point" technologies.

Toyota has unveiled its second prototype of the Project Portal hydrogen fuel cell truck. This "Beta," as Toyota refers to it internally, is the second iteration of the truck, adding more range, more room in the cab, and better usability. This is a more commercially-viable truck, Toyota says.

Daimler Trucks is establishing a global organization for electric mobility called the E-Mobility Group. To kick that off, the company announced that its division in the US, Freightliner, will be adding two new electric commercial trucks to its offerings: the Freightliner eCascadia and the eM2 106.

Electric vehicles are becoming practical for more driving tasks, but electric tech has a ways to go before all-electric motorhome touring is common. One of the more famous purveyors of big motorhomes, Winnebago is taking a step in that direction with an all-electric Class A platform.

Space tourism has been long touted as 'coming soon', but the only opportunity to buy your way into space were rare private trips to the International Space Station with price tags of US$20 million. Now Orion Span has revealed Aurora Station space hotel, promising an ambitious 2022 opening date.

Virgin Galactic's tourist-carrying spaceplane has taken a step closer to entering service after its chemical rocket engine was fired for the first time. VSS Unity reached Mach 1.87 (1,424 mph, 2,290 km/h) within 30 seconds of igniting its engine.