Deep space isn't just for NASA and other space agencies anymore.<br /><br /> A number of private companies and nonprofit organizations are planning missions to the moon, asteroids, and even Mars. Here's a brief primer. <p>FIRST STOP: Mars One, Red Planet Reality TV
Netherlands-based nonprofit organization <a href=http://www.space.com/19398-mars-one-martian-lansdorp-founder-interview.html>rs One</a> aims to land four astronauts on Mars in 2023. The company plans to stage a global reality-TV event around the one-way mission, with cameras following every step of the way from astronaut selection to the settlers' first years on the Red Planet. [<a href=http://www.space.com/20165-mars-one-colony-images.html>Gallery: How Mars One's Martian Colony Project Works</a>] <br /><br /> NEXT: Golden Spike to the Moon
A company called <a href=http://www.space.com/18800-golden-spike-private-moon-company.html>Golden Spike</a> plans to start flying roundtrip missions to the moon by 2020. The firm will charge $1.5 billion for each mission, which will land two astronauts on the lunar surface and return them safely to Earth. [<a href=http://www.space.com/18805-golden-spike-private-moon-landing-graphic.html>How Golden Spike's Moon Landings Will Work (Infographic)</a>]<br /><br /> NEXT: Excalibur Almaz Space Stations
<a href=http://www.space.com/16373-private-spaceflight-excalibur-almaz-photos.html>Excalibur Almaz</a>, located on the Isle of Man, took the bold step of purchasing Soviet-era spacecraft from Russia to retrofit into vehicles for trips around the moon. So far the company owns four Soviet Almaz program three-crew capsules and two Salyut-class space station pressure vessels. [<a href=http://www.space.com/14662-gallery-future-private-space-stations-photos.html>Gallery: Private Space Stations of the Future</a>]<br /><br /> NEXT: Shackleton Energy Company & the Moon
Unlike the space tourism companies, Texas-based <a href=http://www.space.com/10619-mining-moon-water-bill-stone-110114.html>Shackleton Energy Company</a> intends to mine the water ice in permanently shadowed lunar craters. Shackleton wants to convert this ice to rocket fuel , then sell the propellant from in-space "gas stations." [Gallery: 3D-Printing Future Moon Bases</a>]<br /><br /> NEXT: Google Lunar X Prize Competitors
The <a href=http://www.space.com/15863-google-lunar-xprize-moon-apollo-sites.html>Google Lunar X Prize</a> challenges teams to land a robot on the lunar surface, have it travel at least 1,650 feet (500 meters) and send data and images back to Earth. 23 teams currently seek $30 million in prize money. [<a href=http://www.space.com/16509-images-google-lunar-x-prize-teams.html>Gallery: Meet the Google Lunar X Prize Teams</a>]<br /><br /> Some of the Lunar X Prize teams aim to use the competition as a springboard to bigger things. Moon Express, for example, plans to extract resources from the moon eventually.<br /><br /> <p>NEXT: Tapping Into Planetary Resources
<a href=http://www.space.com/15416-asteroid-mining-planetary-resources-hiring.html>Planetary Resources</a> plans to build a fleet of asteroid-mining robots. The company counts Google execs Larry Page and Eric Schmidt among its financial backers, and its co-founders, Peter Diamandis and Eric Anderson, are pioneers in the private spaceflight industry. [<a href=http://www.space.com/15387-asteroid-mining-planetary-resources-gallery.html>Gallery: Planetary Resources' Plan for Asteroid Mining</a><br /><br /> NEXT: Bigelow Aerospace's Inflatable Space Modules
The Las Vegas-based <a href=http://www.space.com/19290-private-inflatable-space-station-bigelow.html>Bigelow Aerospace</a> has set its sights on privately built space stations made of inflatable modules that could form the core of a deep-space exploration fleet. The company has already flown two unmanned prototype modules, called Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, and signed a $17.8 million deal with NASA to provide an inflatable room for the International Space Station as a demonstration of its technology. [<a href=http://www.space.com/19234-inflatable-space-stations-bigelow-aerospace-photos.html>Gallery: Private Space Stations by Bigelow Aerospace</a>] <br><br>Company founder Robert Bigelow has also unveiled a grand vision for Bigelow Aerospace's spacecraft, a plan that would use the inflatable space rooms as a potential deep-space outpost near the moon, or even a manned base on the lunar surface. <p>NEXT: Asteroids and Deep Space Industries
<a href=http://www.space.com/19368-asteroid-mining-deep-space-industries.html>Deep Space Industries</a> is the brainchild of private space veterans Rick Tumlinson and David Gump, among others. DSI follows Planetary Resources in the jump into the asteroid-mining gold rush. The company plans to start with a fleet of small, unmanned spacecraft called Fireflies in 2015 to assess nearby space rocks' stores of water, hydrogen and other volatiles, as well as metals. [<a href=http://www.space.com/19378-deep-space-industries-asteroid-mining-photos.html>Gallery: Asteroid Mining by Deep Space Industries</a><br /><br /> NEXT: B612 Foundation to Protect Earth
The <a href=http://www.space.com/16339-private-asteroid-telescope-sentinel-mission.html>B612 Foundation</a> — which takes its name from the classic children's book "The Little Prince" — is building a private deep-space telescope called Sentinel, which is slated to launch in 2018. Sentinel should find 500,000 near-Earth asteroids in less than six years of operation, B612 officials say. Former NASA astronaut Ed Lu serves as chairman and CEO of the nonprofit organization.[<a href=http://www.space.com/16341-sentinel-space-telescope-asteroid-mission-pictures.html>Sentinel Space Telescope Asteroid Mission in Pictures</a>]<br /><br /> NEXT: Inspiration Mars
Original space tourist <a href=http://www.space.com/19983-private-mars-mission-dennis-tito-interview.html>Dennis Tito</a> spearheads the nonprofit <a href=http://www.space.com/19981-private-mars-mission-married-2018.html>Inspiration Mars Foundation's "Mission for America,"</a> which aims to launch two spaceflyers (preferably a married couple) on a roundtrip Mars journey in January 2018. [<a href=http://www.space.com/19982-private-mars-mission-gallery-inspiration.html>Inspiration Mars: Private Mars Voyage in 2018 (Gallery)</a>] <br /><br /> The spacecraft would just fly around the Red Planet, not touch down.<br /><br /> NEXT: SpaceX's Red Dragon Mars Flight
Private spaceflight firm SpaceX is looking farther afield than low-Earth orbit. Elon Musk, the billionaire founder and CEO of SpaceX, wants to <a href=http://www.space.com/12519-spacex-mars-colony-dragon-falcon-heavy.html>establish a Mars colony</a> of up to 80,000 people by ferrying explorers to the Red Planet for perhaps $500,000 a trip. A new reusable rocket may serve as the vehicle, rumored to bear the name MCT, for Mass Cargo Transport or Mars Colony Transport. [<a href=http://www.space.com/19123-spacex-rockets-spaceships-photos.html>The Rockets and Spaceships of SpaceX (Photos)</a>]
