one small step for a man one giant leap
for mankind was uttered by NASA
astronaut Neil Armstrong as he as the
first human ever set foot on the surface
on the moon an event watched by half a
billion people across the world earlier
this year on July 20th we celebrated the
45th anniversary since the first moon
landing and reflected on the fact that
only 12 people have walked on the moon
and that only 540 people have actually
been to space
very soon however that is about to
change we are at the dawn of a new
commercial spaceflight era space is no
longer in the domain of government's
only but is being democratized and
fueled by the private sector private
companies and entrepreneurs across the
world such as Virgin Galactic and X
Corps are developing a new game-changing
technology where reusable spaceships
will offer increased and safe access to
space for tourism for research and
science developments and education and
doing so at a lower cost
enabling space travel for the many
allowing you and me to actually reach
for the stars but why on earth should we
go to space space is critical for the
advancement of humanity to start we are
born explorers it's in our DNA to push
the boundaries whether it's seeking a
new trade route only to discover a
continent or achieve a scientific
breakthrough and as such space has
always been a platform for research and
technological advancement and we depend
on space technology in our everyday
lives satellites for example are being
used for communications broadcasting
forecasting the weather or navigation
and we use applications such as heart
rate monitors cordless tools or to
develop new materials and medicine the
internationals
basestation is a research laboratory in
the sky and is an incredible feat by
humanity it has been created by 15
nations and they together have achieved
the nearly impossible and in doing so
they have attracted the greatest minds
and the most dynamic teams where
diversity is the catalyst for innovation
and I think there's some great learnings
here as we need to focus on talent
rather than gender belief color mobility
or other I believe that space is the
next business frontier there is a huge
market and it's growing at a rapid pace
the global turnover is expected to
double from today's 300 billion US
dollars to over 600 within the next 15
years entrepreneurs or as we call them a
strop owners across the world are
capitalizing on the exponential
technology and are developing a whole
new ecosystem of products and services
that are set to reform businesses and
communities worldwide there are vast
opportunities ranging from satellites to
spaceflight human spaceflight
microgravity research in space services
space resources and energy space
habitats and real estate space ports and
training facilities space themed
clothing gaming entertainment and
tourism experience on the ground like
space the opportunities are endless the
development of new spaceflight
technology also offers an opportunity
for remote areas to grow and flourish
take the small town of Kirin a-- located
200 kilometers above the Arctic Circle
in Swedish Lapland Kirin is an ideal
location to see the Northern Lights and
have attracted researchers and tourists
for over a hundred years and due to its
remote location and limited air traffic
it offers a clear sky as it's got less
disturbing lights Kira has also got
access to vast areas of low human
density sometimes perceived as
a disadvantaged but in this context
offering a key attribute as it creates a
safe area for space activities so today
in corona you find a launch site for
sounding rockets a Research Institute a
University and even a space high school
so capitalizing on these components and
adding tourism we established spaceport
Sweden in 2007 and our aim is to create
a gateway to space and offer commercial
human suborbital space flights for
tourism and science in the near future
taking you and me into space so Kerry
now might be as far up north as you will
ever go but I hope to take you as far up
as you can ever dream on a grander scale
new technology and access to space is
going to empower the world although we
live in extraordinary times two-thirds
of the population is still not connected
to the Internet but through new
technology and miniaturization we are
seeing the development of nano SATs
these are small satellites weighing no
more than a couple of kilos or even
grams and being considerably cheaper
these are being launched by small
companies and university departments
across the world who used them for
science and research to monitor crop or
weather or cattle or traffic management
and through nano SATs and components
being developed for our smartphones it's
going to give us access to education
medical support and business platforms
creating mind-blowing opportunities as
it starts to reach all the corners of
the world as we live in a fast moving
environment an innovation economy we
must dare to Saturday's goals both to
stay competitive but also to attract
talent it is no longer enough to be
adaptable to change but we need to dare
to lead and space is said to be the
greatest challenge of all attracting the
brightest minds who also have the
courage to achieve something which is
greater than ourselves when you look at
Earth from space
you don't see any country borders you
don't see any differences between people
we are all one and we need to start
behaving like that we were all born to
be great
and a sky is no longer the limit I
encourage you all to challenge
yourselves take that small step it might
just be the next giant leap for you your
business or for society someone once
said that our generation was born too
late
to explore the earth and too early to
explore the Stars but thanks to
pioneering leaders and Astra preneur to
keep pushing the boundaries space it's
actually closer than you think
thank you