John Spencer - Space Tourism Conference

Next month, the Space Tourism Society will hold its annual Conference, held each year on April 28th on the anniversary of the date that Dennis Tito, the first space tourist, launched to the International Space Station in 2001.

On this edition of The Ex Tera Podcast, Tom Patton talks with John Spencer, CEO of the Space Tourism Society, which holds the annual event in Los Angeles, CA. The conference presents the cross-section of industries comprising the space experience economy: aerospace, media, entertainment, architecture, design, advertising, marketing, finance, high tech, science, manufacturing, futurism and the arts.

While most people still associate space tourism with very wealthy people buying tickets on commercial spacecraft for suborbital and orbital flights as well as visits to the ISS, there is much more to the industry, and there is much more to come. “The investment community has absolutely woken up into the idea that … space tourism is an industry that will have almost limitless growth, high profitability and also it’s just a very sexy, exciting industry to be in,” Spencer said.

If you’ve ever traveled to witness a launch or visited a space museum, you’ve participated in the space experience economy. In the future, there will be many more such possibilities, according to Spencer, which will lead to the creation of thousands of jobs … from rocket scientists to welders and hospitality personnel aboard orbital hotels … and generate potentially billions of dollars in revenue.

This year’s conference will be held at the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport hotel. The conference will look ahead to the very near future and beyond. Private space travel has arrived. The countdown is done. It’s now time to fly many more private citizens—vacationers, contest winners, athletes, actors, artists, and all seeking incomparable life-altering experiences.