Billionaires’ Business Intentions Could Turn into a Search for a New Home in Space
Is it because President JFK once stated that those who fail miserably can achieve great things? Since then, our heroes’ past labor has always brought success no matter the number of failures and tough times. The Counting begins from Explorer 1, through Allan Shepherd’s great feat that made him the first American to fly into space on January 31, 1958; down to another America’s first, John Glenn’s historic flight into orbit Earth.
The Struggle to Achieve that Space Dream Continues with Vigor
As our past heroes paved the path for us, today, we have good reasons to rejoice that the dream is not dead but more alive than ever. Additionally, it is of great joy to notice that the flame of creativity is still burning in our 21st-century billionaires’ hearts and souls, despite some fears from people like me who think that in the process of achieving the great dream of all, they might have some other agenda like abandoning the rest of us on this doomed planet called Earth.
Looking back, one can see why our business moguls or tycoons, call them what you want, are willing to take the risk. The technology that has enabled us to enjoy state-of-the-art technologies like the Global Positioning System (GPS) which has rendered paper maps obsolete, and made telecommunication (through satellite) faster. Space exploration has also helped the human race in various other forms we can see countable NASA’S products/inventions; like the Cabin Pressure Monitor (Alt Alert), a compact pressurization monitoring system that tracks airline cabin pressure. The UV-tracker (a sun-user-friendly device) that revitalizes Vitamin D in the human body and fights against skin damages. The 3-D Video for brain surgery, Earthquake protection, Sleep-enhancing apps, and advanced skin cream, just to mention a few, are some of NASA’s products with space touch. To this, add employment and space awareness among our youth.
The moon on its own is a treasure of a vast number of raw materials in form of iron ore, water, minerals, and precious metal, carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and (helion-3) a gas useful for fusion reactors a good source of nuclear with the total absence of radioactive waste. In summary, we know more about our planet by exploring it. space exploration creates economic benefits worth trillions of dollars our billionaires may want to explore by all means which may probably benefit the whole world and enhance already technology.
The listing covers frontline space trotting billionaires according to their involvement with the space project.
Richard Branson
The British billionaire Richard Branson made history when on Sunday, July 11, he witnessed in the first person how his first fully crewed Virgin Galactic flight took off into space (about 50 miles or 80 kilometers). Despite the setback suffered when one of his crafts had an accident and a pilot killed, Richard went forward with his space ambition and succeeded in the end. Now that he has taken the lead even before Jeff Bezos, we can say the battle has just begun and giving more hope for those who have signed up and paid the $250,000 fare.
Jeff Bezos
Good news, as Bezos’ Space ambition, received a boost. The government has approved his rocket company’s launch into space. The Federal Aviation Administration’s license is good through August. If everything goes as planned, Bezos would launch his Shepherd rocket (AKA “Blue Origin” Project) next Tuesday in West Texas. Joining him together in that flight will include his brother, Wally Funk, an 82-year female aviation expert, and an 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, a supposed winner of a $28 million auction.
Elon Musk
Elon, who is worth about $12 billion, has not only talked about his interest and mission to space, but he has started walking the talk of one of his greatest projects in life—Privatized Spacecraft. The billionaire is the founder of both SpaceX and Tesla. His tenacity toward this project has impressed even NASA that awarded its company’s first contract in 2001.
The list of the billionaires who want to explore this space tourism business may be longer than expected. But for now, we also have names like the Facebook CEO business magnate Mark Zuckerberg.
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark as distinct from his other billionaire’s face-long approach and outward space plan, he’s going through a third party to execute his Starts hot Project. Hence, his team is made up of the scientist Stephen Hawking, Yuri Milner.
Marks’ space project looks like it will take centuries to materialize. If you think of it, his intention to send small robots to outer space would not take less than 30,000 years. Even though he’s trying to use technology to shorten that period.
Naveen Jain
Naveen is the founder of Moon Express in conjunction with a team of other experts like Dr. Barney Pell (a space technologist), space futurist Dr. Bob Richards. Naveen has prepared the way for US private enterprises to explore and carry out special commercial activities. His company’s ambition to travel outer space is fully backed and approved by the US government. This company is the first to be recognized in this field. Their mission is to tap whatever Earth minerals, precious metals, and other valuable resources out there for the benefit of mankind.
James Cameron
James as an actor, his passion for space is reflected in some of his movies. Therefore, not a surprise at his attempt at space projects. Cameron is known as an investor in Google together with Google CEO Larry Page, and the CEO Eric Schmidt, the three combined to found Planetary Resources. The mission of the company is to send robotics into space to mine and explore precious metals.
Paul Allen
As it should be expected the big titans as Google and Microsoft will never miss the list when it comes to competing. Paul was the co-founder of Microsoft. The sole investor of Burt Rutan’s Space Ship One. Paul Allen teamed up with Rutan in 2011 to found Strat launch Systems. The mission was to manufacture a 238-foot jet that will facilitate an ideal height before the rocket goes into orbit. He was lucky to also won a NASA contract of about $17.8 agreement to assess the company’s technical know-how.
Robert Bigelow
Robert knew that he wanted to be a space guy at the tender age of 12. He didn’t only dream but that dream came true even when he had made his fortune from his Budget Suites of America hotel chain. His space dream materialized when he founded his Bigelow Aerospace company which focuses on creating habitats in space for astronauts. Interestingly, Bigelow is coming into the space industry with innovative ideas such as inflatable space modules, insulating layers, and bullet-resistant fabric where large habitats can be compressed into smaller luggage areas to facilitate its transportation instead of fixed-sized modules (the like of the international space station). The company is highly committed to its mission and its expectations are highly promising.
Paul Allen and many more billionaires have not yet made their intentions known, but there are many more of these business moguls who do not want this space tourism adventure to slip away without their active participation.
We look forward that all these great men achieve their dreams to explore space but never forget that Earth needs their attention, too.