One example of an upcoming need for downmass - the ability to transport material from space to the Earth - is space manufacturing.
Dylan Taylor
Make sure you have a clear understanding of your values and intent, then use technology to enable that. What the tech won't do is compensate for a lack of strategy.
The case for sponsorships in commercial spaceflight is compelling and could dramatically impact the economics of space tourism. Global brands are looking for fresh, new ways to position themselves on the leading edge of their categories.
I have the privilege of being the vice chair of the World Economic Forum's real estate council. In that role, I review a lot of economic data and original research from around the world.
There are several revenue streams that are near and present that could support a private space station, including in-space manufacturing, microgravity research, and tourism - for both individuals and sovereign nation astronauts - and in-space supply logistics.
People will come back and influence their communities to get excited about space. Space funding will increase because people will see the benefit it has to the way people relate to the world, the way people relate to problems, and the way people view themselves.
We are going to mint new astronauts from all communities. We want to influence public policy and opinion... by changing the mindset.
Until space tourism is a destination-based business (e.g. flights to a private space station or to the moon), will flyers pay to fly more than once after having earned their astronaut wings? The answer to this is likely very dependent on the experience itself.
Fibers made on Earth, and thus made in the presence of gravity, have impurities and defects in the glass that adversely affect transmission speed and quality.
What I tell business leaders is you're in the space industry - you just don't know it yet. Every industry will be impacted by space. The internet would not exist without space-based communication.
If you offshore, if you telecommute, if you do anything to minimize your company's physical real estate, there are real consequences to its culture and cohesion.
If you dream it, it can happen.
Come year-end, there will be more capital deployed in newspace in 2016 than 2015. I see that trend continuing for the foreseeable future.
You can expect to see us add several notable multifamily producers. We're committed to the space. We're attracted by the space. We have a strong offering, and we want to continue to build on it.
There are really four 'headlines' for me: honesty, integrity, hard work, and what I call a 'can-do' attitude. You could call that 'can-do' attitude optimism, but it is not Pollyannaish optimism. Rather, it is a 'we'll figure it out' type of mentality.
In addition to the vehicles currently known, the holy grail of commercial spaceflight remains a single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) reusable spaceplane.
The bottom line is 2018 should finally be the year where we see the early stages of broad-based commercial space tourism appear. Demand will certainly be driven by the early successes or failures of those missions, the marketing of those missions, as well as the propensity for tourists to become repeat flyers.
There are items that have far superior quality when manufactured in space, but need to be returned to Earth to be purchased and used by customers.
The economics of the space industry are changing. Within so called 'NewSpace,' not only are new entrants being created almost daily, the business models and capital sources have proven to be dramatically different from traditional models built upon large government contracts and defence-related spending.
Space is really domain expansion.
By 2030, up to 10 percent of the world's gross domestic product could be linked to space in some way.
Our focus is to get citizen astronauts to experience the 'overview effect,' return to Earth, and then impact their communities.
Companies that have the capability to settle space don't have the ambition and companies that have the ambition don't have the capability. Voyager was founded to do something about that.
The future of humanity in space will be determined by the answer to a key question: What will happen first, the first human born in space or the first combat fatality in space?
If you're not funding female-founded firms, you're leaving behind half your talent.
Whether it's space tourism or really interesting missions to the moon or Mars, you really need a healthy capital ecosystem to make that happen. Nation states and governments have the control, but unless the financing is sustainable, it's hard to really keep them on that.
You can tell the depth of a person based on the quality of the questions they ask. We can measure the depth of humanity by a similar method. Space compels us to ask deeper questions.
Space enables a higher degree of transparency, it's hard to hide from space-based assets.
Many people may not recognize that the development of space exploration technologies has already helped benefit Earth in many ways, especially when it comes to communications, Earth observation and even fostering economic growth. Space technologies are surprisingly critical in impacting government, industry and personal daily decision-making.
The bigger shift in space exploration won't be commercial crew - that will be a validation of something we already knew was going to be the case. It will be when you have a fully private company launching everyday citizens. When people know people in their communities who have been to space on a daily basis.
