Space for Humanity

Space for Humanity
Name	Space for Humanity
Type	Nonprofit organization
Founded	2017
Founder	Dylan Taylor
Headquarters	Denver, Colorado
Area served	Global
Mission	Democratize access to spaceflight through citizen astronaut programs
Website	(official site)

Space for Humanity is a nonprofit organization founded to broaden human access to suborbital and orbital spaceflight by selecting and sponsoring citizen astronauts from diverse backgrounds. The organization aims to catalyze civic engagement with space endeavors and to influence policy, philanthropy, and corporate practice by enabling experiential perspectives drawn from Earth observation. It operates alongside commercial space companies, research institutions, and advocacy groups to expand the constituency for space exploration.

History

The organization was founded in 2017 by Dylan Taylor following his involvement with aerospace ventures and interactions with firms like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, Orbital Sciences Corporation, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and Boeing. Early advisory connections included figures associated with NASA, ESA, JAXA, Roscosmos, ISRO, CSA, and private actors such as Planet Labs, Rocket Lab USA, Relativity Space, and Astra Space. Initial programs were announced amid a broader commercial spaceflight resurgence alongside initiatives from SpaceIL, Moon Express, Bigelow Aerospace, Space Adventures, Axiom Space, and Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser partnerships. The organization’s timeline intersects with high-profile flights like those conducted by VSS Unity, New Shepard, Crew Dragon Demo-2, Soyuz MS-10, and later commercial crew rotations to the International Space Station. Public-facing milestones drew attention from media outlets that had previously covered events such as Ansari X Prize, X Prize Foundation, Google Lunar XPRIZE, and festivals like World Economic Forum sessions where space policy and private investment were debated alongside leaders from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Palantir Technologies, and BlackRock.

Mission and Programs

The stated mission emphasizes democratizing access to space via citizen astronaut selection, public outreach, and partnerships with educational institutions. Program elements referenced collaborations with universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Harvard University, University of Colorado Boulder, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Tokyo, and Tsinghua University. Training curricula drew upon analog programs at Johnson Space Center, analog research sites like Biosphere 2, Antarctic research stations, Mauna Kea Observatories, and lessons from suborbital operators Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin. Public engagement efforts invoked exhibitions similar to those by Smithsonian Institution, American Museum of Natural History, Science Museum London, and outreach networks including Teach For America, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, World Health Organization, and UNESCO educational frameworks. The organization promoted equity themes resonant with initiatives by The Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and civil society actors like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Governance and Funding

Governance structures included a board and advisory council with members drawn from aerospace industry leadership, philanthropic circles, academic researchers, and former agency officials from NASA, ESA, DARPA, NOAA, NATO SHAPE, and diplomatic backgrounds such as former staff from UN General Assembly delegations. Financial support reportedly combined philanthropic gifts, corporate sponsorships from companies like Boeing, Airbus, Virgin Group, Blue Origin, and institutional grants similar to awards administered by National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and private foundations like Omidyar Network. Fundraising strategies paralleled practices used by nonprofit arts and advocacy groups such as Smithsonian Institution, American Red Cross, Sierra Club, and professional associations like IEEE and AAAS.

Notable Participants and Flights

Participants selected as citizen astronauts were drawn from professions represented in organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, Greenpeace, Black Girls CODE, Girls Who Code, National Geographic Society, TED Fellows, Ashoka, Echoing Green, and civic leaders from municipal governments like City of New York, City of Los Angeles, and international cities including London, Paris, Tokyo, Nairobi, São Paulo, and Mumbai. The roster included individuals who had been associated with projects at MIT Media Lab, Harvard Kennedy School, Stanford School of Engineering, Oxford Internet Institute, Cambridge Judge Business School, and NGOs such as Oxfam and CARE International. Flights in the broader era involved vehicles from Blue Origin’s New Shepard, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo program (including VSS Unity), and commercial crew missions by SpaceX Crew Dragon and Axiom Space private missions; passengers on analogous flights included figures linked to Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Yusaku Maezawa, Anousheh Ansari, Denis Tito, and Charles Simonyi.

Partnerships and Collaborations

Collaborative partners spanned aerospace firms, research centers, philanthropic institutions, and cultural organizations, mirroring alliances with NASA Johnson Space Center, European Space Agency, CERN, SETI Institute, Rockefeller Foundation, TED Conferences, National Geographic Society, Smithsonian Institution, XPRIZE Foundation, Skoll Foundation, The Wellcome Trust, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and universities including Caltech, Princeton University, Columbia University, Yale University, University of California, Berkeley, ETH Zurich, Imperial College London, and Peking University. Corporate collaborations often referenced aerospace contractors such as Raytheon Technologies, General Dynamics, Thales Group, Safran, KBR, and commercial launch providers like Arianespace and United Launch Alliance.

Criticism and Controversies

Critics contrasted the organization’s goals with wider debates involving commercial spaceflight, environmental impact, and social equity that have been raised by commentators and groups including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Union of Concerned Scientists, 350.org, Extinction Rebellion, and scholars at Cornell University, Harvard University, and University of Cambridge. Concerns reflected controversies surrounding high-profile private flights by Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, and wealthy patrons such as Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk, with scrutiny similar to critiques levelled at events like the Carbon footprint debates in aviation contexts and philanthropic influence critiqued in analyses of The Gates Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation. Questions were also raised about selection transparency, diversity metrics, fiscal disclosures compared to norms at ProPublica analyses and nonprofit watchdogs like Charity Navigator and GuideStar, and the ethical framing of experiential space tourism compared to long-term research agendas supported by NASA, ESA, and international scientific bodies.

Category:Non-profit organizations