Paving a Way for the Space Revolution

The seventh and final event in the Life Beyond Earth series on ThinkND featured Eric Thomas, MBA ’21, Mission Manager for New Shepard, with faculty host James S. O’Rourke, Teaching Professor, Management & Organization, Mendoza College of Business. This discussion focused on the future of space exploration, private space exploration companies, and the development and future of space tourism. 

Thomas began the discussion with an explanation of the New Shepard rocket. Manufactured by Blue Origin, New Shepard is a reusable suborbital rocket system designed to take astronauts and research payloads into space. It is unique to other rockets for multiple reasons: It is a vertical take off and landing vehicle, it is being used for space tourism purposes, and it can perform soft landings, meaning the rocket can be reused after it lands. 

At this point in time, New Shepard is used primarily for space tourism. Thomas and O’Rourke discussed the tensions between trained astronauts and space tourists who may call themselves astronauts. There is quite a bit of training and research that is needed to be given the title of “astronaut,” even though civilians can pay money to fly.

Thomas went on to say that one of Blue Origin’s main goals is to create an infrastructure in space for other companies to utilize to their advantage. Like in the creation of Amazon, many of the mechanisms to start Amazon’s business were already in place. Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, found a way to put these structures together to make them profitable. In the future, Thomas even sees foreign countries coming to Blue Origin to use their technology. However, Thomas does not see Blue Origin becoming the sole provider for NASA or governmental space projects, rather, one of many providers for space travel endeavors.

O’Rourke asked Thomas to give viewers some insight into how he got involved in Blue Origin’s business and any advice he has for other students who are interested in this industry. Thomas spent some time in military operations before finding himself at Blue Origin. His biggest words of advice to students are that space companies are looking for a diverse group of people, not just engineers or scientists. Companies like Blue Origin need creatives, businessmen, and people with fresh, new ideas. 

Visit the event page for more.