Millions of people across the country witnessed a total solar eclipse earlier this week, and those involved in the space business are hoping that all the excitement surrounding it will entice more people to join the space workforce.
“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to be in the space industry,” said Heather Pringle, a retired Air Force major general and the nonprofit’s chief executive. Space Foundation, told Yahoo News. “We need financial managers, we need human relations experts, we need all types of individuals to help this industry grow and prosper and so that we can realize the full potential that technologies in outer space can bring to help us on Earth. ”
According to the foundation’s annual Space Report, released earlier this week, the number of people working in the space industry will increase by 4.8% in 2023 (it has increased by 30% since 2016). Every state in the country now has at least one space-related organization, the report noted. And the $546 billion space economy – which grew 8% last year – is on track to become a billion-dollar industry by 2030.
“The growing role of space in our lives is a trend we will continue to see,” said Pringle. “It’s affecting almost every human being, whether we realize it or not.”
More total solar eclipse coverage
One of the drivers of the space economy is the race among private space exploration companies – including Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin – to bring people to space.
“What this commercialization trend is going to do is bring more diverse markets, more diverse industries into the space ecosystem that didn’t exist before,” Pringle said. “And when we get there, we will have a much broader range of industries participating, such as manufacturing, food and beverage, hospitality, of course, space tourism.”
Pringle sees the commercialization of space as a compliment to NASA, which already employs more than 17,000 people and is, among other things, on a mission to return astronauts to the Moon by 2026.
This is why something like an eclipse is important for both the space industry and humanity.
“It makes me feel like I’m part of something bigger than myself,” Pringle said. “An event like a total solar eclipse brings us together. It makes us forget all our differences. And we focus on the similarities we have and how we are all part of this Earth and affected by the cosmos around us.”
