On Tuesday at Seattle’s Museum of Flight, the WTIA hosted a panel event on an emerging tech topic, the business of space. We were honored and privileged to have the first Korean astronaut, Soyeon Yi, leading the conversation about this growing industry.

Panelists included Erika Wagner, Business Development Manager at Blue Origin, Dr. Roger Myers, Executive Director of Advanced In-Space Programs at Aerojet Rocketdyne, Joe Landon, Chairman of the Board of the Space Angels Network, and Nick Merski, Constellation Program Manager at BlackSky.

Each of the speakers works in the space industry in different capacities: Landon’s Space Angels Network is the only angel investment group focused on the space industry, working with early stage space ventures. Wagner’s Blue Origin is an orbital human space flight company, making engines, orbital rockets, etc. Myers’ Aerojet Rocketdyne delivers engineering solutions in the aerospace/defense markets. Merski’s BlackSky provides “satellite imagery as a service”.

The conversation began with an easy question about how panelists entered the space industry—the unanimous response down the line referenced each speakers’ love for space as kids and being self proclaimed “life-long space geeks”.

So how does space relate to other industries and directly affect people’s lives? “Now there are opportunities for business to use space in new ways,” said Wagner. ”We have the ability to use space as a laboratory and take gravity out of the equation to see how a product works without that element…the frontier has been closed for so long and it’s really opening wide.”

The northwest plays into the mix quite nicely as well; “Seattle has a real strength that we can bring to this new emerging business area. We currently have 35 companies in the Puget Sound area working in the space industry,” said Myers.

Landon added, “Over the past five years, Seattle has continued to rise as a center for commercial space. We have the capital, talent and critical mass of companies who can band together to help the industry.”

How about the role of government in the space? As it relates to policy and governance, Merski said “space offers a unique vantage point; we need to look at policy from a world level, not just state and local, and apply this to all countries.” Myers added, “the evolution of [the role of] government in space is a very interesting topic—with national priorities and a lot of uncertainty, this is a very dynamic time in our industry and a great opportunity for emerging companies.”

Yi asked about panelists’ opinions on popular films like Gravity and The Martian, to which Wagner replied “we are really getting to the point where the tide is turning for you and I to go [commercial flights to space].”

In closing, Wagner said, “Space is not all about astronauts anymore, there’s a much more public facing view of the space industry.” Merski added, “a lot of the technological advances we’ve made in the past are going to effect what we’re doing; it’s an exciting time.”

Thank you so much to our evening’s sponsor, Davis Wright Tremaine, our community partner, MIT Enterprise Forum, our moderator and speakers, and all those who attended. Join us on November 17^th for the last panel event of 2015, Gaming: Virtual and Augmented Reality, and our holiday party, Debates and Drinks!