Ten Billionaires aBetting on Private Spaceflight: Smart or Squand

FYI,

"Ten Billionaires are Betting on Private Spaceflight: Smart or
Squandered Money?"
Houston Chronicle SciGuy Blog
http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2013/06/ten-billionaires-are-betting-on-private-spaceflight-smart-or-squandered-money

: This week I wrote a story about the launching of PayPal Galactic,
: an initiative that seeks to bring commerce into outer space.

: One might be tempted to dismiss such an idea as unnecessary, or at
: least unnecessarily early, but I'm not so sure. During a
: conversation with John Spencer, of the Space Tourism Society, he
: mentioned that 10 billionaires are making serious investments in
: private spaceflight activities.

: And sure enough, there are at least 10. Here's the list of
: commercial space companies, and their co-founders:

: - Stratolaunch Systems Corp.

: - Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft Corporation

: - Plantetary Resources

: - Larry Page, co-founder and CEO Google, Inc.
: - Eric E. Schmidt, executive chairman of Google Inc.
: - Ram Shriram, founding board member of Google Inc.
: - Charles Simony, Ph.D., chairman Intentional Software
: - Ross Perot, Jr., chairman of The Perot Group

: - Blue Origin

: - Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com

: - Virgin Galactic

: - Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Companies

: - SpaceX

: - Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal

: - Bigelow Aerospace

: - Robert Bigelow, founder of the Budget Suites hotel chain

: None of these men, obviously, are stupid. There's either a
: legitimate business opportunity here, namely space tourism and
: other commercial activities in space, or these wealthy men seeking
: the exclusivity that space offers innovators and investors.

: If it's the former, they're going to get richer. But if it's the
: latter? They're going to spend a lot of money on a gamble that may,
: or may not pay off.

: Either way, I'm glad to have fresh money and fresh ideas in the
: space game. We will all benefit if they take us places we've never
: been before.

Mark Reiff