"Trump, Putin, and Xi Jinping shouldn't be the only three people on Earth who have an impact on the lives of the rest of humanity." Confessions of a techno-millionaire who flew into space twice on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin

Changing worldview

I’ve been to space twice in the last three years. Each time, I’ve come back with a new sense of what’s important in life. I made my first trip in December 2021, and my second in February of this year. Each flight lasted only 10 minutes, but the Earth looks completely different when you take off and when you land.

This time I returned with a few questions about the state of our world. Since my first trip, the war has escalated. I thought then—and I still think now—that the only limit to what humanity can achieve is our ability to get along with each other.

Instead, I see a lust for power, a change in people’s views on politics, and people who are jeopardizing the fundamental ideas of our founding fathers in order for one country to gain an advantage over another.

US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping should not be the only three people on Earth who have an influence on how the rest of humanity lives.

All of this might make you think we should find another place because we’re going to screw everything up. We’re not going to colonize Mars anytime soon, but maybe we should start now.

Curiosity for life

I’ve been fascinated with rockets since I was a kid. Before I was a teenager, I remember going to the local store, where I would have to lie about my age to buy model rocket engines (which were obviously flammable). I shared this fascination with my son Cameron, who also accompanied me on my first space trip.

Years later, it became possible for civilians to fly into space. Fortunately, by then I had made significant profits from my cybersecurity businesses, Palo Alto Networks and Zscaler, so I could afford to buy a seat in Blue Origin at auction. I was also considering investing in space technology through my family office, Bess Ventures.

Millions per flight

In 2021, just before Thanksgiving, Blue Origin’s Director of Operations and Civil Sales contacted me to offer to join the third flight. I was contacted again in January of this year when a seat became available on the 10th flight.

I can’t say exactly how much my last trip cost, but it was in the millions. Of course, my five traveling companions were also well-off financially. Among them was Richard Scott, a reproductive endocrinologist who sold his reproductive medicine group, IVIRMA, to private equity firm KKR. And Elaine Chia Hyde, a physicist, pilot, founder of the Chicago Star media company and the only woman on the trip, had been saving for years to do something similar.

Preparing for flight

We spent about two and a half days in classroom training before liftoff. Unlike astronauts preparing for longer orbital trips, we didn’t spend time training in a centrifuge or swimming in a tank to understand what weightlessness was like. It was more like studying the engineering side of a rocket to understand how safe it was. However, with two and a half minutes before the ladder is extended, you can jump out.

Before liftoff, we get into a specially designed capsule for the rocket crew. For the first five to seven seconds, you don’t feel much movement because the engine is starting up. You have headphones to muffle the sound of the engine, but you still hear a loud bang. Then the capsule is thrown into the air.

Actually, space travel

In two and a half minutes you cross the Kármán line and you start to realize how thin and fragile the Earth’s atmosphere is. At that point you are also weightless. I used my GoPro to film the view.

The climb is smooth, but the descent can be bumpy. You are pulled into the chair with such strong gravitational acceleration that you are physically unable to move, let alone take a deep breath.

When we landed, our families were there to greet us. We toasted with champagne and realized the fact that we were one of several hundred civilians who had dared to fly into space.

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