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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