Q. You are involved in the space tourism firm Space Adventures, which is developing commercial space flight right now. How is that progressing?
Spacecraft in joint development by Space Adventures and Armadillo Aerospace (Courtesy of Armadillo Aerospace)
There’s no question that commercial space is the future. Commercial space flight has been difficult, but it will begin soon. Numerous companies will start offering sub-orbital flights at a 100-kilometer altitude, which gives passengers a few minutes of weightlessness. We at Space Adventures are building such a spacecraft through a partnership with a company in Dallas called Armadillo Aerospace. It will be in space within a year or so. And Space X has now flown and recovered a spacecraft, Dragon. They had the first private reentry of a space vehicle ever in history in December 2010. The Dragon is the first private spacecraft to be selected by NASA to supply goods to the International Space Station after the retirement of the Space Shuttle.
In my mind, space is the grand frontier of our generation. And this year is the 50th anniversary of humanity’s first steps into this grand frontier, by Yury Gagarin. But just as it took 50 years from the voyage of Christopher Columbus before a mass of commercial and privately funded ships began to cross the oceans, we now have seen that same 50 years pass in space, and we’re just beginning to see the coming flood of private and commercial activity in space. I find this to be a very exciting time, where we’re moving from space being a very rare, government-only activity, to where it will be a frequently traveled government and commercial and private activity that will take humanity into low Earth orbit and beyond.
Q. What are the obstacles for commercial space flight?
At present, most clients of the commercial human space flight industry are government space agencies, which are influenced by national budget and policy. And the budget is limited. But I believe that commercial human space flight is a great thing even for government programs, because it will reduce the cost by a factor of five or ten, which means it will free up money to do more complicated activities in space or go deeper into space.
But the real test is going to be to see if there is commercial utilization beyond government space programs. And that is what is really required if we want to see hundreds and thousands of civilians flying into space for personal or commercial activity. That’s the real test. And that we won’t know for sure for about another five years. I expect we’ll be able to see the possibility of commercial space flight clearly after 5 years.
Q. Did you change anything after your space flight?
Inside the International Space Station (Courtesy of NASA/Richard Garriott)
Absolutely. I changed my view of life after visiting space. I would say before my space flight, I would already have described myself as an environmentalist. Most of my charity had been towards environmental causes, but my personal lifestyle did not match my claims. For example, in my home, I used enormous amounts of wasteful power. My cars were also very wasteful from a fuel standpoint. I did not do things like recycle or reduce my trash. And since my space flight, I’ve really felt much more strongly about my environmental commitments and about being an agent of change, not only in my own life but in the kinds of work and activities that I do. As an investor and as a businessman, I now support things which I now think are much more important for humanity, not just myself.
Q. Do you want to go to space again?
Oh yes, of course. You know, for me to get another chance to get off orbit is unlikely unless the price comes down quite dramatically. I spent all the money I could in order to reach space once. However, I do believe I’ll get a chance to go back sub-orbitally. My own company is building a rocket that will be able to take people on short visits to space, just for a few minutes at a time. But that is something we, Space Adventures, are working on now, and I think will be available in a few years.
If we can develop a rocket, I believe that rocket will not only take many passengers and myself to space and back, but I believe it will allow us the opportunity to do very unusual things, like space diving, where you ride up in the rocket, exit the rocket, and reenter the Earth’s atmosphere wearing a space suit and a parachute. I really want to try space diving.
Q. Do you recommend space flight to the general public?
Absolutely. I believe the world would be a profoundly better place if one or two percent of humanity had the opportunity to fly in space like I did. And I believe that everyone who gets a chance to fly in space will similarly be changed in a way that they will like for themselves and will again also be better for the Earth.
Q. What is your next goal in the space field?
There are really two. There’s a personal goal and a business goal. My next personal goal in space is space diving. Not only are we working on this rocket that will hopefully be able to take two people at a time to space and back, but I’ve also been investing in the development of the technical materials required – for example, the reentry space suit – in order to be able to safely reenter the Earth’s atmosphere from 100 kilometers.
And so space diving is my next personal goal in space. But also we have a commercial goal, which is to continue to reduce the price of access. Right now the Soyuz is $50 million a seat. The Space Shuttle is a few hundred million dollars a seat. But we believe that we can get that price down to one to five million dollars a seat. And so if we can get the price down to one to five million, which I believe is possible, then I believe that there is work that you can do in space that will pay for your price to go live in space. And so a lot more people will go into space when they can earn a living by doing it. I dream that this new era will soon come true.
