SpaceX has spent the last five years developing reusable rocket technology, significantly reducing in the process the cost of launching payloads into orbit.
And Virgin Galactic has focused its efforts on building suborbital spaceplanes that will take tourists on once-in-a-lifetime trips into space.
Dr Ashurbeyli said: “The first major breakthrough that we shall see is the normalisation of space tourism.
“Virgin Galactic are providing the most viable option for exploring space but only if you can afford the small fortune.
“We expect that with reusable rocket technology, throughout the decade the prices of space exploration will indeed decrease, but it’ll take an ambitious project like Asgardia to realise how space travel can be democratised for people of all backgrounds.”