Answer:
One way to improve this question: How many private companies focus on space exploration, so that it becomes an actual research question, and not a simple bare facts question, would be, to phrase it in such a way that it will lead a person to seek further information, and deepen his knowledge on the data, without just giving a simple number.
As such, one way in which this question could be turned into a research question would be thus:
Although space exploration started mostly as a race between governments, and a struggle for power between influential nations, currently that trend has changed greatly to show that more and more the hands of the private sector are changing the face of space exploration. How has the influence of the private sector (private companies) affected this event?