Will the Future Finally Arrive this Time?
I am a child of the Space Race. Like millions of others, I marveled at Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. I watched the blurry black-and-white images of Neil Armstrong descending the ladder to stand on the dusty surface of the moon. I mourned the last lunar mission, for which the broadcast network chose as theme song The Monkees’ hit, “The Last Train to Clarksville.” (Really? Even at the time, I thought it was in bad taste.)
Like other children of the Space Race, I was promised things. Colonies on the moon. Manned missions to Mars. Asteroid mining. Flying cars, for that matter. And like my fellow space geeks, I was doomed to disappointment. Until now.
In this issue of The Orbiter, we ask some smart people if they think the future we glimpsed in the Sixties is finally ready to arrive. Specifically, we bring you their views on what the space and satellite business will be doing ten years from now.
The Space Economy in 2029
After a never-before-seen wave of private investment in space, those same investors are waiting to see which of their bets will pan out. Our entire industry is waiting – while working our tails off – for the same thing.
Will the new LEO communications models work?
How will booming satellite capacity and falling prices transform the addressable market for communications services?
What does the future look like when we’re imaging the entire Earth every day and have the computing power and artificial intelligence to turn images into data that powers a thousand different applications?
Or will we carelessly block our own access to space with clouds of debris traveling at 17,500 mph (28,000 kph)?
Fueling the Engine of Growth
For even one-tenth of this to happen, our business faces a pressing need. Investment has been the fuel of transformation, but people are the engine.
That’s why SSPI helps the industry attract, develop and retain the talented people it needs to keep the engine turning. People who connect through high-profile events and gain recognition from prestigious awards. People who rely on SSPI for a broader understanding of the industry as much as for individual networking and career mentoring. From young people seeking a career path to industry veterans with wisdom to share, SSPI connects them all.
We are also the only organization that promotes the enormous value of space through dramatic stories of our technology making a better world. Those stories overturn misconceptions about the industry that hold it back. They inspire our people and attract new ones to the industry. They help justify investment and give new customers a reason to care about our services and products. Through the stories we tell and the people we serve, SSPI inspires the growth of the $1 trillion space economy of the future.
So, maybe, this time, that future we have long awaited will finally arrive.
