elon musk 's spacex and jeff bezos ' blue origin are among several us companies engaged in the private space business .
blue origin , llc , keeps a low profile in van horn , texas , a way station along interstate 10 .
the highly visible spacex venture is at the opposite end of the state .
bezos ' wealth is estimated at nearly $ 35 billion , musk 's at $ 12 billion .
both men hope to launch a new era of commercial space operations , in part by cutting costs through reusable rockets .