Spaceflight has been closely studied since the first man landed on the moon in 1969, and thanks to the proper resources and technology, it may not be long until it becomes a common form of travel. In our third Families of Worth session, we discussed the future of space travel and how it will impact humanity. Ishay Levin, vice president and assistant portfolio manager at Baron Funds, Rachel Lyons, executive director of Space for Humanity, and Dylan Taylor, chairman and CEO of Voyager Space Holdings, each offered their insight on this revolutionary topic.

In terms of space’s influence on Earth, Taylor explained how Voyager Space Holdings is making a difference. “Our company now has a joint venture with the UAE to do agro farming—research in space on a commercial airlock that we own that’s attached to the International Space Station, that can be the leading edge of agriculture here on Earth,” he said. “So there’s a lot of technological innovations that only space can enable, which benefits life here on Earth.”

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Space will continue to impact human life, especially now that traveling could possibly become accessible for the average person. “There’s a few commercial space companies that it will now be accessible with. Virgin Galactic—they’ve been hard at work for more than a decade now,” Lyons said. “And they’ve sold hundreds of tickets already, and they could be ready by the end of the year. Blue Origin as well; they have not started selling tickets, but they’re on a similar timeline as Virgin Galactic. And then the Space Perspective is a stratospheric balloon company, and they could be ready within the next five years. Space for Humanity—right now, we’re looking at it on our three-year strategic plan. And it is a totally realistic goal. Around 100 years ago, people began buying tickets to go on airplanes and take flights. And now we’re at that point with spaceflight.”

Fortunately, the government is helping make space traveling possible for regular people. “The government really hasn’t changed their funding, they just redirected it,” said Taylor. “And rather than try to insource everything, they’re now looking to do commercial buys.”

Billionaires, such as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, are also trying to make a difference by making this mission possible. “They’re both dedicating their life to space,” added Taylor. “So this is this is a very real thing. This is not a fad. This is a very real thing.”