How Do You Become A Millionaire In Space?

In the earliest days of the 2^nd Space Race there was a riddle that teased an intriguing question: “How do you become a millionaire in space?” It was asked in the first few years of this new century, when those of us wanting to slip the surly bonds of a statist aerospace culture were working for the only people able to dabble in commercial space – billionaires armed with fortunes from early business success yet still connected to their childhood space dreams. Their undaunted passion for the grandeur and opportunites that space would hold for humanity’s future has triggered the most exciting developments in the human economy since the creation of the airline industry a century ago.

What was once a domain limited to only the world’s most powerful governments – and, later, a playground of the rich and famous – has quickly become a normalized sector of the business and consumer marketplaces. Fueled by ambition and following the historical rhythm of advanced military technology coming into practical civil use, the commercial space sector is now growing rapidly. The last few years have witnessed impressive feats of entrepreneurial space, what is even more fascinating is that the $3T growth projected over the next twenty years will come from natural private sector growth, and not from government-induced, Keynesian artificiality. Building a profitable space business is now an achieveable goal for anyone with the skill and ambition, no billionaires needed.

We are beyond the green shoots of early spring. Many of these new space companies, bootstrapped with personal capital, some seed investment, and a lot of hard work have already crossed the Rubicon into sustained profitability. Today, they are able to compete directly against the much larger, traditional aerospace companies – and win. Much like their publicly-traded big siblings in the industry, these companies have also become passive investment opportunities for outside investors. By leveraging products and services from the established technology sector, space entreprenuers are in hot pursuit of the newest American dream: founding, owning, and running their own businesses as well as providing high income employment for thousands of workers.

Millionaires in Space: The Dawn of a New Business Era

Space entrepreneurs are not the billionaires of even a decade ago who invested money with only a passing interest in earning a profit. They are ordinary, middle-class professionals with new ideas, plenty of aspirations, and a lot of hustle. As important as the employment they provide, today’s small space companies are rapidly becoming a more sustainable answer for more fiscal-minded government leaders. They are capitalizing on a renaissance in government space acquisition that affords them opportunities to compete for government work as commercial companies. They deliver products that only a few years ago would have cost the taxpayer ten times as much. With the aforementioned tailwinds in place, the question still stands: Will the new crop of space entreprenuers become millionaires in space? We’ll soon find out, but the early returns look promising for many.

We find ourselves at the dawn of a new era, one that has a familiar rhyme. This moment in time feels similar to ones of continental discovery that forever changed humankind’s perspective of “global,” or of technical breakthroughs that ushered in profound leaps forward in humankind’s dominion of its environment. It is clear that that there is no turning back now. While this era brings jaw-dropping opportunities, it also comes with the responsibility of greater global stewardship and requires that we rethink current government regulations and test drive new ones. Success will smile upon those who will anticipate – and embrace – incoming reforms to their benefit, while leaving behind those who cling to a past orthodoxy that hobbles them.

There is no longer a trick answer to the old millionaire riddle. Instead, it is quite straightforward: identify a need or problem that can be solved by leveraging space data, devise and implement a sound business plan to deliver the solution, and work hard to turn your vision into reality. Today, hundreds of companies are doing just that with some seed investment. Their proliferation has led to the development of a sustainable space economy that generates dividends for its owners, employment for its workers, and a tax base to support our modern way of life.

So, how does someone become a millionaire in space? The answer today is so different from the one 15 years ago that most Gen-Z engineers miss the joke altogether. “Start off as a billionaire!” was the answer, of course, reflecting the fact that the early commercial explorers invested billions into space endeavors and rarely made a profit. The answer today, however, is completely different, to the enormous benefit of America’s space future.