SpaceX, like historical chartered companies, operates beyond the reach of any single sovereign nation. It has accumulated immense power, posing a challenge for governments to reclaim control.

<p>Although SpaceX is not about to rule over foreign subjects, as the chartered companies founded in the early modern era did, it, too, is operating beyond the reach of any sovereign. And like its predecessors, it has already accumulated immense powers that governments will struggle to reclaim.</p>