Is this Mars thing really happening? SpaceX did its first test launch of Starship this spring, the rocket that it's developing to send to Mars. But getting to Mars is still a long way off. So does SpaceX have the funding and business plan to pull it off?

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Elon's giant rocket

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Launches by commercial space companies are becoming more frequent. Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration licensed 117, an all-time high. But these spaceflight companies aren't paying for all of the FAA's services that they use. 

Today, we explore why the government is looking to change that and dig into the larger debate over whether human activity in space is a public or private project.

Related episodes:
Economics in space 
Planet Money goes to space 
Space economics 

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Taxing the final frontier

We wrap up our series on the economics of the video game industry with a triple roundup. Today, how the new ban on noncompete contracts could affect the gaming industry, whether young men are slacking off work to play games and the ever-controversial world of loot boxes. 

Related episodes: 
Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify) 
Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible (Apple / Spotify) 
The boom and bust of esports (Apple / Spotify) 
Work. Crunch. Repeat: Why gaming demands so much of its employees (Apple / Spotify) 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. 

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Video Game Industry Week: The Final Level

Employees at video game companies are known for working long hours to meet product launch deadlines. This pressure, known in the industry as crunch, has only gotten more intense as games have grown more complex. Mounting layoffs in the growing industry have only made things worse on the labor front, inspiring some workers to take matters into their own hands.

Today, in the next installment of our series on the business of video games, we speak to several workers in the industry about their experiences with crunch and why they feel unionization is the key to preserving their careers.

Related episodes:
Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify)  
Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible (Apple / Spotify)
The boom and bust of esports (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

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Work. Crunch. Repeat: Why gaming demands so much of its employees

The origins of competitive gaming are rooted in college campuses going back to the early 1970s. Now a globally popular industry, esports is at the center of many questions about long-term financial viability. 

Today, we dive deep into the hype surrounding esports and why the luster seems to be rubbing off the industry that was once seen by some as the next NBA.

Related episodes:
Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify) 
Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

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The boom and bust of esports

Gaming provides entertainment and community for billions of people worldwide. However, video games haven't always been accessible to those with disabilities. But this is changing.

Today, in the next installment of our series on the business of video games, we explain how accessibility has become an increasingly important priority for game developers and how advocates pushed them to this point.

Related episodes:
Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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Elon's giant rocket

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