Spaceflight and rich people

[totalitor]

I am just wondering where are rich people who have a fire to support spaceflights? I mean if someone have let's say billion dollars, what that man can do? Launch own satellite to orbit, maybe to the moon or further. Or buy own spacex crew capsule? Or support Skylon project?

Will someone spend hundreds of millions dollars to something like that? If I had a billion dollars I would. Would you?

[Scotius]

Sorry - apparently diamond-encrusted custom iPhones and gold toilets (I kid you not) are higher on the list of priorities for rich dou...*cough*...people than helping humanity become a proper spacefaring civilisation. Thank the stars for Elon Musk

[K^2]

Next Soyuz flight was supposed to take some celebrity along, but that got pushed back. So, you know, we're at least getting a little bit of that. People just aren't hyped up about space enough lately.

[Awaras]

You don't become rich by making a habit of spending large amounts of money on things that won't make you even richer...

[Deutherius]

I don't think it's likely, unless it would generate a profit, or unless they are major spaceflight geeks. Not every rich person is a gold-covered douche throwing away their fortune for stuff they don't need, some of them (I would even imagine it to be the majority) had to work hard to earn their money and will be unlikely to part with it that easily.

[Grumman]

I am just wondering where are rich people who have a fire to support spaceflights? I mean if someone have let's say billion dollars, what that man can do? Launch own satellite to orbit, maybe to the moon or further. Or buy own spacex crew capsule? Or support Skylon project?

Will someone spend hundreds of millions dollars to something like that? If I had a billion dollars I would. Would you?

No, I wouldn't. If I had hundreds of millions of dollars to spend on a vanity project like that, I'd do something worthwhile in its own right, like exterminate whooping cough.

[peadar1987]

You don't become rich by making a habit of spending large amounts of money on things that won't make you even richer...

Like buying mansions, supercars, megayachts and football teams?

[WinkAllKerb'']

it's all about next gen'ethic reinvestement thoose who don't get that because of this ...

Edited May 30, 2015 by WinkAllKerb''

[mrfox]

They start spaceship companies...

Robert Bigelow - Budget Suites - Bigelow_Aerospace

Jeff Bezos - Amazon.com - Blue Origin

John Carmack - Id Software - Armadillo Aerospace

Richard Branson - Virgin - Virgin Galactic

Or fund space competitions...

Paul Allen - Microsoft - X Prize

Google (not a person technically) - Lunar X Prize

[Robotengineer]

They start spaceship companies...

Robert Bigelow - Budget Suites - Bigelow_Aerospace

Jeff Bezos - Amazon.com - Blue Origin

John Carmack - Id Software - Armadillo Aerospace

Richard Branson - Virgin - Virgin Galactic

Or fund space competitions...

Paul Allen - Microsoft - X Prize

Google (not a person technically) - Lunar X Prize

You missed someone.

ELON MUSK!

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Most rich people think they are two important to take the risk of spaceflight.

[PakledHostage]

Like buying mansions, supercars, megayachts and football teams?

Mansions (real estate) and football teams are assets and businesses that one can reasonably expect to make money off of.

Yachts and supercars, not so much, but what right does anyone have to judge what someone else spends their fun and recreation budget on? Proportionally, yachts and supercars are probably a smaller portion of truly wealthy people's net worth than most people's yearly vacation expenses.

[vger]

You don't become rich by making a habit of spending large amounts of money on things that won't make you even richer...

What's the point of having all that money if you're not going to do at least a few insanely eccentric things with it?

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No, I wouldn't. If I had hundreds of millions of dollars to spend on a vanity project like that, I'd do something worthwhile in its own right, like exterminate whooping cough.

If I had the money to run a space program, I would. But it would exist to promote commercial space travel, AND perform research at the same time. Much in the same way that some remote Earth expeditions are selling tickets on their ships to raise extra funds.

If some rich tycoon wants to ride shotgun on a lunar orbital flight, then why the heck not?

How much more money could NASA have raised if they offered to bring back a moon rock sample for anyone who gave $10,000,000 or more? I'm convinced it's only bureaucratic nonsense in their government ties that prevents them from doing things like this. Russia, clearly does NOT have this problem, which is why the wealthy can go to the Cosmonauts for a lift.

Edited May 30, 2015 by vger

[Kryten]

Next Soyuz flight was supposed to take some celebrity along, but that got pushed back. So, you know, we're at least getting a little bit of that. People just aren't hyped up about space enough lately.

That's actually an entire business; seven people have already done it, one of them twice. It just hasn't been happening recently due to post-shuttle scheduling changes eliminating the opportunities for short trips; Brightman's flight was only to be possible due to the one-off 'year in space' mission.

Edited May 30, 2015 by Kryten

[vger]

It just hasn't been happening recently due to post-shuttle scheduling changes eliminating the opportunities for short trips; Brightman's flight was only to be possible due to the one-off 'year in space' mission.

Sarah isn't going up anymore?

[crazyewok]

I am just wondering where are rich people who have a fire to support spaceflights? I mean if someone have let's say billion dollars, what that man can do? Launch own satellite to orbit, maybe to the moon or further. Or buy own spacex crew capsule? Or support Skylon project?

Will someone spend hundreds of millions dollars to something like that? If I had a billion dollars I would. Would you?

Thats why you don't have a billion dollars

People dont get rich spending money on every hairbrained scheme that comes along.

[Kryten]

Sarah isn't going up anymore?

Left training for personal reasons, and the 'backup' tourist was only actually willing to pay for the training. They're considering substituting in another paid tourist, cement magnate Filaret Galchev. but that'd leave him with much less than the normal training schedule.

Which leads us to another reason this kind of thing hasn't been all that popular among the über-rich; cosmonaut training takes a lot of time, and time is money. The course is a full year, and they're required to speak both Russian and English fluently by the end of it.

Edited May 31, 2015 by Kryten

[Slam_Jones]

I'm sure once there have been at least a few successful "space tourists," more rich folks will start to trust the system and be more willing to invest in it.

Just my thoughts.

[vger]

Thats why you don't have a billion dollars

People dont get rich spending money on every hairbrained scheme that comes along.

Right, because so many people are turning a huge profit on the LHC...

[crazyewok]

Right, because so many people are turning a huge profit on the LHC...

Which was not built by a single billionaire.

The cost was spread over many organizations alot of them government.

[Moar Boosters]

Left training for personal reasons, and the 'backup' tourist was only actually willing to pay for the training. They're considering substituting in another paid tourist, cement magnate Filaret Galchev. but that'd leave him with much less than the normal training schedule.

Which leads us to another reason this kind of thing hasn't been all that popular among the über-rich; cosmonaut training takes a lot of time, and time is money. The course is a full year, and they're required to speak both Russian and English fluently by the end of it.

Brightman is far from uber-rich anyway. Apparently she's worth something like $55m, and the space flight costs $52m. If she is indeed funding it herself it's almost cleared her out, although I suspect she was helped along the way by her billionaire ex-husband.