The corporate space race is heating up: Billionaire CEOs Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin, Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic, and Elon Musk of SpaceX are promising zero-gravity sightseeing by year-end. They may all have the finances, the tech, and the force of will — but which one will emerge as the superpower of space tourism? This WSJ video takes a look at the competitors (watch, runtime: 4:10).

The contestants: Bezos-owned Blue Origin’s six-seater commercial capsule, the New Shepherd, is slated to run its first crewed test flight this year from its take-off point in west Texas. Virgin’s VSS unity spaceship, also a six-seater, was the first to run a successful test last February. The wonder-child SpaceX’s seven-seater Crew Dragon 2, meanwhile, is hoping to see a manned launch in July.

What does the billionaire space race tell us? A few things actually. One: necessity is no longer the mother of invention. Two: it may cost up to a quarter mn USD to secure a seat into space. And three: Bezos vs. Musk is safer for humanity than the US vs. USSR. Or is it?