---
title: "Commercial Human Spaceflight Astronaut Categorizations: A Capitalist Perspective"
id: 50775
type: "post"
slug: "commercial-human-spaceflight-astronaut-categorizations-a-capitalist-perspective"
author: "NSE"
published: "2023-05-30T20:36:30+00:00"
modified: "2023-06-27T01:00:40+00:00"
canonical: "https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2023/05/30/commercial-human-spaceflight-astronaut-categorizations-a-capitalist-perspective/"
markdown_url: "https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2023/05/30/commercial-human-spaceflight-astronaut-categorizations-a-capitalist-perspective.md"
description: "This article proposes astronaut classifications from the context of the one factor that really matters in a commercial market context - money - specifically…"
language: "en-US"
category:
  - "Editor’s Picks"
  - "Market Data And Analysis"
  - "Space Economy"
  - "Space Exploration"
post_tag:
  - "Commercial Market"
  - "Government"
  - "Human Spaceflight"
  - "Space Travel"
  - "Spaceflight"
---

# Commercial Human Spaceflight Astronaut Categorizations: A Capitalist Perspective

In an era marked by the growth of commercial space operations, traditional astronaut classifications, rooted in a time when space exploration was strictly within the purview of government-funded programs, are increasingly found to be inadequate. As the variety of roles, responsibilities, and missions within the spaceflight industry proliferate, the existing binary delineation between ‘professional’ and ‘non-professional’ astronauts falls short.

The following is a attempt to delineate astronaut classifications from the context of the one factor that really matters in a commercial market context – money – specifically, who is giving money and who is receiving money and for what.

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