We knew that Jeff Bezos was lately more focused on his aerospace ventureBlue Origin, than on Amazon. What we didn’t know was that it has one of the most optimistic visions in the sector about the near future.
Don’t be sad. During a talk with John Elkann (president of Ferrari and Stellantis) at the Italian Tech Week TurinBezos did not mince his words. The tycoon said he did not understand how “someone who is alive right now can be discouraged” about the future.
The reason for your optimism? A near future where artificial intelligence, robotics and, above all, space exploration, converge in “multiple golden ages.” The future of humanity is not only on Earth; according to Jeff Bezos, it is about to expand exponentially through space.
The role of Blue Origin. “I think in the next couple of decades, there will be millions of people living in space; that’s how quickly this is going to accelerate,” said Bezos, who I had already confessed in the past his expectation that Blue Origin will end up being bigger than Amazon.
This optimism is not just rhetorical. Bezos is investing billions of his personal fortune each year to build new technologies for the commercial exploitation of space:
- New Glenn, Blue Origin’s heavy rocket that will make its first mission for NASA in November: launch the Escapade satellite into Mars orbit.
- Orbital Reef, the commercial space station in the form of a luxury hotel for millionaires that will have scientific modules for when the International Space Station is removed from orbit
- Blue Moon, the lunar module with which Blue Origin intends to surpass Starship by solving one of the big problems of the SpaceX ship: the evaporation of cryogenic propellants in space.
- Other lunar developments, such as the ability to make solar cells from lunar regolith. Bezos was clear: “If you’re going to go to the Moon and stay on the Moon, you need to use the Moon’s resources.”
Exploit the Moon and space. One of Bezos’ goals is to turn the Moon into an industrial launch pad. “The Moon is a gift from the universe,” he said, noting that its low gravity makes it cost 30 times less energy to launch a kilogram of mass from the Moon than from Earth. In his vision, the Moon becomes a “rocket fuel depot” that will allow us to explore the rest of the solar system.
Bezos’ vision directly connects the space race with the other great revolution of the moment: artificial intelligence. AI is a technology with an enormous energy thirst, and its data centers are becoming a true “energy hole” on Earth. Bezos’ solution: get them off the planet. The proposal is build gigantic data centers of gigawatts in space. The advantages are obvious: “We have solar power there 24/7, and solar power there has no clouds, no rain, no weather.”
It’s not science fiction. In fact, Bezos predicts that this apparent science fiction will be economically viable very soon: “We will be able to surpass the cost of terrestrial data centers in space within the next two decades.” Space, he believes, will go from being a place for communications satellites to being the center of heavy industry and data infrastructure.
In the end, Bezos’ vision unifies all the revolutions underway. If AI and robotics will take over production, what is left for humans? According to him, the freedom to choose. Bezos doesn’t believe we need to live in space to survive. Robotics technology will be so advanced that “we will be able to send robots to do that job.” So why will those millions of people go? Bezos’ answer is simple: “The majority will live there because they want to.”
Images | Blue Origin
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