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Tumlinson’s ambitions for his company, Deep Space Industries, are within reach. In the first half of 2017, it plans to launch three flights to test a water-based propulsion system and interstellar travel capabilities in advance of the first asteroid mining expedition. Alongside companies like SpaceX and Planetary Resources, private outfits are seeking to outpace NASA in achieving the commercial potential of space. We’re in the middle of the next great space race, as a handful of privately held companies state their bold ambitions for a multitude of commercial endeavors in the cosmos: satellites, rockets, mining, travel, refueling stations, massive 3-D-printing structures, even colonization.