TOM ZELIBOR: In 2022, the world launched
more orbital spacecraft than in the first 52
years of the space age.
And now, if you look at 2023, it's even
going to be bigger than that.
A lot of people don't realize there's over 90 countries
operating in space.
And of those 99 countries can currently launch spacecraft
into m but we see that increasing significantly
over the next few years.
I mean, that presents huge challenges.
People like Bezos, Musk, Sir Richard, and the rest,
you know, you have billionaires putting billions into it
and they know what's going on.
They see it, the entire global space economy, you know,
as of our last report was 469 billion.
77% of that number is commercial.
Based on the growth that we're seeing
and all the adjacent industries that are players in it,
this could easily be a trillion dollar market
by the end of the decade.
So space foundation really started out as an opportunity
to connect government, military, industry, and the education
world in a forum where people can discuss these hot topics
when it comes to space.
That's why we do space symposium.
We're a neutral player in it and we don't pick winners,
but we do get all the policymakers
and government people together.
So that's one side of the business.
The other side of the business is equally as important.
And it's more fitting in our nonprofit side.
The industry is growing so rapidly
that we know that the number one issue
facing the global space ecosystem
is an educated workforce.
You know, what's frustrating to me is when I see
the big players, you know, they win these big contracts
but they don't have the people that to necessarily
execute on those.
So what happens?
They may steal from somebody across the street.
And then that company across the street gets a big contract
and they steal back.
So my message is always to address the root cause.
And the root cause to me is starting at a much earlier age,
getting kids excited about the STEM education.
And space foundation does that.
We start at kindergarten and work all the way through
up into entrepreneurship.
You can't just hope to capture somebody, you know,
when they're in college.
You know, you've got to start at an early age.
And that's what we do.