Entrepreneurs in Space

A big thank you to Charles Cormier and his Wisdom Podcast. I have had the opportunity to go back and watch the short video, and am impressed with his choice of questions and the flow of the interview. I felt that my ISDC 2024 presentations were more polished and succinct in their messaging, but this Q&A format was better for presenting more about my background and personal motivations.

Since then, I’ve found a number of relevant links that support my answers, and in particular, some great articles about the importance of space entrepreneurship in the age of constrained US government budgets and Chinese expansion.

Here is one from Space News on commercial space development:

The development of the lunar surface and subsequently Mars is inevitable — and closer than many realize. It will either happen under a free-market framework based on proven terrestrial principles of development, or an ad hoc framework whereby authoritarian regimes annex large areas through decree and aggressive defense. A race to develop the Moon and Mars is already underway, and democratic rule-based governance must not cede either celestial body to geopolitical rivals.

China has demonstrated great prowess and progress, particularly relative to lunar operations. They are one of the few current world powers that missed the last global era of expansion, and China will not miss such an opportunity again. With budget limitations here in the U.S., China is on a trajectory to potentially outspend America in space. Therefore, to prevent Chinese dominance, we must out-entrepreneur them. Our journey is to the Moon and Mars, but by leveraging administrative approvals to coordinate and incentivize commercial space development, we can ensure that humanity’s destination in the final frontier is peace and prosperity.

Although I did not discuss the political implications of mapping roads on the Moon and Mars, I believe that having the US spearhead the effort makes the most sense, especially since the first lunar map was charted by a retired NASA computer engineer. I am grateful for the opportunity to be the de facto leader of space roadbotics for the short term, but for anything more official, we will need to identify an experienced, serial entrepreneur who can invest in my ideas and bring them to fruition.

Please reach out if you know of any qualified candidates for the role of Reloquence co-founder. I am convinced that an entrepreneurial model is the best approach, one that includes licensing the maps with the goal of making them the de facto global standard.