Billionaires taking supersonic joyrides into the edge of space are not only pioneering a new generation of tourism for the fabulously wealthy but bringing down the cost of space exploration for behemoths such as NASA, says the agency’s current head.

Bill Nelson, administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, says competition for the space race from companies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic had made the “economics of going to space more affordable” while massively reducing costs for space programs to the US government.