I think I need one of those “change my mind” memes made about me .

Friday Axiom Space, using SpaceX “hardware,” the Crew Dragon, launched the first all-civilian crew flight, earth to international space station. Direct. Roundtrip.

Cost per person? $55 million

Trip Details: Flight + accommodations for 8 days at the international space station (ISS) included

Footnote: They are being put to work too! More on their research here.

The story triggered a lot for me. It’s not the first time I have thought, “we have so many problems HERE, why are the uber-affluent racing to “peace out” and go to space; can’t they help HERE?” Sir Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, while your money is your money, wouldn’t it be nice if some of the space cash stash went to helping this planet/earth’s inhabitants? It sortof feels like you’re creating an exit strategy for yourself.

Celebrities like William Shatner and Michael Strahan, in addition to the big bosses I mentioned above, are some of the first to have made the trip to space. Those trips have each been about 10 minutes long, with about three minutes of weightlessness. Their bodies experienced 6Gs, or six times the force of earth’s gravity, when they came in for the landing. I don’t think my stomach could take it.

My stomach issues aside, there’s clearly a growing market for space travel.

”The democratization of space” … oh the MainStage CEO fireside chats I would love to host on this topic!

This leads me my two points of today, not actually event-related!:

I won’t be holding my breathe on leaders having a change of heart and moving some of that space money to the “charitable donations” line on their financial statements; these boys want be be space pioneers. And let’s not kid ourselves, it’s for profit, not just praise. While I was surprised to learn that they are doing good up there, it’s still an ego game. But the game is unfolding in an industry I am really excited to watch grow. Read on for my links to some companies in the space. Pun intended.

and

Could it be space travel, despite related ocean debris and gas usage dwarfing that of the SUVs in US coastal cities, proves great for the planet?

Wait, what?

I was surprised when I saw a post-flight interview with Strahan; he said looking back at earth during his trip had a profound impact on him. Seeing how interconnected we are really are, sharing the same home, makes one realize how important it is to actually help each other out, for the good of the planet.

I’m paraphrasing, but hopefully you get what I mean; that is, his space experience is going to help him better the planet in ways he can. (“You’re welcome,” to his PR team.) 🌎

Space Travel for good?

This week’s Axiom trip is longer than the few minute trips I just mentioned, and is newsworthy because it’s an all-civilian crew. The team of four is led by a retired NASA astronaut, the mission Commander. He accompanies Larry Conner, Mark Pathy, and Eytan Stibbe for the trip to and from ISS, with a 10-day stay between flights. Who knew there would be “go back to work part time” retirement options for astronauts?!

Back to the remaining three travelers: you can call them rich, just make sure you don’t call them space tourists (10-15 hours of training, vs 1,000+ training hours for private astronauts, per Mr. Conner); these three men are private astronauts.

In a similar, “I am surprised to have this opinion”-Strahan-revelation moment, these three men are actually doing good up there. They are conducting research on more than 25 topics. More of that here.

Obviously NASA, funded by the U.S. government, was a key player in the partnership between Axiom, SpaceX, and the ISS in making this next-level bro trip possible. So that leads me to believe they’re dipping their toes in collaboration with private companies pool, from an investment standpoint, right? Maybe I shouldn’t have questioned the end of the compliance officer in a previous post afterall?

But let me get back to the my point re the legitimacy of the space industry for the B2C crowd: a least 700 tickets have been sold for a space trip with Virgin Galactic, seat prices ranging from $250,000 $450,000, depending when purchased.

Assuming you pass the Virgin Galactic customer application process #customerexclusivity for today’s $450,000 ticket, you will be asked for a $150,000 deposit, only $25,000 of which is refundable. The good news? At least with Sir Richard Branson’s product, he doesn’t put the customers to work too! The ticket comes with membership benefits including “bespoke itineraries” and “world-class amenities”. Basically what money can’t buy, for only $150,000 down.

With a simple google search, you can see a surprising amount of companies also promoting their space travel products. Space Perspective is actively advertising 6-hour 2025 “SpaceBalloon” capsule rides. And is it me or is Worldview Space trying to be the Expedia of space?

Travel aside, the industry is more than just space travel and nausea-training classes for those with big bank accounts.

There’s Celestis, for example. While completely baffling to me, the company’s pitch is to deliver (see the bullet points):

👆🏼For real, that is a company.

Since my wheelhouse is B2B, I have better appreciation for a company like LeoLabs. They provide space junk alerts to their customers. That is, the owner operators of the 2,000+ active satellites around earth right now, like the Pentagon and Starlink. Terrorize yourself with images from their proprietary space junk tracker here.

Maybe I don’t actually need one of those signs. Space travel, and the innovators working in that “space,” might not be such a bad idea. I’m along for the ride.

The next #axiom mission private astronaut hook? It will include a winner of a space-related reality show. Even Cindy Adams couldn’t make this up. Only on earth, kids, only on earth.

I’ll leave you with my space joke of the day:

Q: What did the doctor say to the rocket ship?

A: ”Time to get your booster shot”