We've recently witnessed big moments for space exploration.
Refreshing, too, given the backdrop of well, just about everything else in 2020.
The reinvigoration of space discovery, the commercialization of space exploration and the new mindset our country has embraced on public-private partnership for aeronautic and space technology development is something to celebrate.
On Wednesday’s 8th National Space Council meeting held at the Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s Space Coast, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced several key milestones. One of the things Pence is proudest of, and rightly so, is his administration’s advocacy of a Space Force, which is now just coming up on its one-year anniversary.
It's the first new branch of the Armed Forces since the creation of the Air Force 70 years ago. As General John W. "Jay" Raymond, Chief of Space Operations, U.S. Space Force, and others made clear during the meeting, we have a Space Force primarily in order to ensure the safety of our people on Earth.
The president issued a new Space Policy outlning "enduring goals for our country’s space activities" on Dec. 9.
By the way, GPS, the technology most of us use on a daily basis, is a happy consequence derived from NASA’s technology innovation for space exploration activities.
Yet another exciting milestone announcement: Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator, called the names of the 18 astronauts who will train for the Artemis Moon Landing, scheduled for 2024.
The female astronaut candidates include: Kate Rubins, Stephanie Wilson, Christina Koch, Jessica Meir, Anne McClain, Kayla Barron, Jasmin Moghbeli, Jessica Watkins and Nicole Mann.
One of these NASA astronauts will be the first woman ever to step foot on the moon when the Artemis mission is complete.
As if that wasn’t excitement enough, AFWERX --- a program of the United States Air Force, whose purpose is to develop a culture of innovation --- has been hosting all week their onboarding seminar about how technology and other startup small businesses can work with the Air Force.
The big announcement kicking off Monday’s seminars was the launch of SPACEWERX, the incubation/innovation arm that will function similarly for the newly stood up U.S. Space Force.
To truly get a handle on how disruptive, in a good way, this has been for our national defense and the potential it represents for our small business community, I advise reading this Memo penned by Dr. Will Roper, Assistant Secretary to the Air Force: "Memorandum For The Acquisition Workforce."
One of the big takeaways so far from the AFWERX invited venture capital panelists was their conversation about how squandering the nation’s best and brightest tech talent on ad-optimization is not the best way to build a bright future.
Several top U.S. and Silicon Valley venture capitalists chimed in with Trae Stephens’ of Founder’s Fund comment about Silicon Valley’s ad-optimization work force not being the best use of innovative tech talent.
This included Katherine Boyle who pointed out that space has never been a more exciting place to invest in and that 'there is no one cooler than Elon [Musk]." These Seed Fund and Series "A" investors underscored that a small business who has a U.S. Department of Defense contract in the pipeline represents a good bet (from an investing and investment standpoint).
Two examples of that are Palantir and Relativity Space.
Relativity just closed a $500 million round late last month.
The Los Angeles, California based company 3D prints rockets.
Yes, 3D printed rocket ships.
So, it would appear that Silicon Valley, and its companies like Google and Facebook whose principal business is to optimize ads, may be yesterday’s news. Space, on the other hand, may not be the final frontier, but it is certainly the next most exciting realm, especially from an innovation/small business perspective.
The essence of the American character is to explore new horizons and to tame new frontiers." – President Donald J. Trump
To listen to what the Dept. of Commerce has to say on their Space launch objectives, watch the replay here. And all info for AFWERX can be found on afwerx.af.mil.
Paige Donner has contributed to Newsmax since 2018. She's a media expert, commentator, novelist, and serial entrepreneur. She founded the company, Paris Food And Wine in 2013. In 2018, she founded IoTShipping, a supply chain logistics startup that uses the Internet of Things (IoT) for precision traceability of shipped goods. Paige began her journalism career in Paris, France in 1990. Her first job out of university was with Time-Life's rue Fbg. St. Honore offices. Within the next two years, she took freelancing work as a copy editor for the International Herald Tribune, now re-branded the International New York Times, as well as writing assignments for Variety — the film and television trade magazine. Paige has also clerked for the Senate President of the Hawaii State Legislature. A filmmaker, she has written several television pilots as well as directed television commercials and film shorts. She also contributed to American Cinematographer, the Los Angeles Times, Daily Variety, Huffpost, and a film production trade magazine, Below The Line. As of 2010, Paige has again made Paris, France her home. She has also written for the International New York Times. Since 2013, she has been the sole regular local editor/photographer contributor based in Paris, France for USA Today. Read Paige Donner's Reports — More Here.
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