Branson, Bezos put a brand new face on area journey

Billionaires entrepreneurs are fundamentally changing the public’s relationship with space.

Why it matters: Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos are driving the industry into a new era of mass marketing, wanting to turn citizens into customers and thereby changing the rhetoric about space.

• “I think this is a big moment because the public face of the space industry is no longer NASA and science and peaceful activities. It’s now billionaires and companies trying to make money, “Brian Weeden of the Secure World Foundation told me.
• NASA also supports efforts by private companies trying to become more than buyers of services in orbit while using their resources to go deeper into space with missions to the Moon and Mars.

Between the lines: The space industry is at the center of a cultural conflict as billionaires are at the forefront of space travel today.

• A shift in rhetoric and perception around space – away from government-led exploration and towards a business division – “comes at a time when there is significant backlash and criticism of hypercapitalism, billionaires and inequality,” Weeden said.
• Criticism of billionaires could also flow into American support for space exploration in the future, warned Weeden.

Driving the news: On Sunday, Virgin Galactic Branson took off aboard its spacecraft to the edge of space during a star-studded event that barely addressed the risks of. nodded suborbital flight.

• Rather than highlighting technical details, as is the case with most NASA-involved Cape Canaveral launches, the company’s webcast served as entertainment and promotion for a flight on Virgin Galactic.
• The company tried to attract potential customers by using guest stars on the show, including Stephen Colbert and Khalid.
• Branson himself was reportedly on board to analyze the astronaut experience. But Kellie Gerardi, one of the webcast hosts, put it this way: “For this next generation of astronauts, we have the opportunity to tweak the experience and there is simply no one who curates the experience better than Richard Branson.”

But, but, but: What the public gains in entertainment, it could lose transparency.

• Webcasts that focus more on technical details keep the audience updated on what’s going on in mission control or in flight.
• By trading this technical information for entertainment purposes, the public and the press could lose access to critical safety information that is necessary for potential customers to make an informed decision.
• Also, these companies are likely not as committed to the public as the government, which means they may not release as much information as government actors.

What to see: Officials in other nations are taking note of the impact billionaires have on US space efforts.

• “I hope that one day our billionaire oligarchs will start spending their money not on the next yachts and vanity fairs, but on the development of space technologies and knowledge of space,” said Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian space agency, on Twitter.
• Virgin’s show could also force other companies to take notice and find new and engaging ways to get a wide audience into their space travel dreams while remaining entertaining.
• It’s not yet clear what Blue Origin will be bringing out for the webcast of its launch with Bezos on July 20th, but if it’s past launch shows for the company it should be a mix of specs and commercials.