I Cracked the Code!

By John Spencer

For the past twenty years I have been thinking of how to design and finance private enterprise facilities in Earth orbit. I have always felt if

I could figure out what kind of facility makes economic sense, I could then design and package it and inspire the formation of an international financing consortium to build and operate it, whatever it was. I had to solve this mystery to break through the financing barriers to crack the code.

Since 1982, I have been modeling my space tourism plans on the ocean going cruise lines. As a young architect, I had worked on the interior design of a Princess cruise ship while at the same time working on real space projects, and saw the clear connections. In the last few years I have come to believe orbital cruise ships with 100 or more passengers are too large for a first private financing step. With our current technology and hyper-expensive launch systems, it would be too difficult to assemble and operate such large orbital ships and make them profitable. So I began thinking of smaller vehicles such as super yachts. The more I studied these vehicles and the culture behind them, the more I saw them as the ideal beginning model for real orbital tourism.

The super yachts and yachts in general are not profit oriented in terms of taking people out and charging them for a trip. The yachts are assets that are sold just like luxury houses or corporate jets, but they are far more in the realm of prestige and corporate marketing than cash profit. Cruise ships, on the other hand, are totally passenger revenue oriented. The more passengers and the more money you can charge them, the better.

There is also a very defined culture involved with yachting. It is an affluent, sophisticated, educated and technology-oriented culture who likes to be special and in many ways secluded from the rest of society. These people have made it, and they want to show off. Yacht races are the perfect example of this. Wealthy people, companies and sponsors race each other not for any practical reason but to have challenges, fun, and to prove who is the best of the best. This urge to prove of oneself is one of the reasons humans have progressed so much in the last hundred years. Along the way, new technologies and capabilities are also developed that have many spin-off benefits.

Let me define what I mean by super yachts. These are luxurious yachts that are over 100 feet in length and cost well over $20+ million dollars to build. They typically carry six to ten guests plus crew. The largest are more than 300 feet in length and cost $75+ million and can take up to three years to build. They accommodate eight to twenty guests in luxurious state rooms and elegant public areas adorned with fine art work and furnishings. It costs millions of dollars a year to crew and maintain the larger yachts.

I was very surprised at how many hundreds of these beautiful super yachts there are and at the high level of advanced technology used to build, outfit, and operate them. The award winning yachts are a sophisticated balance between elegance, beauty and supreme technology. The new construction materials used, advanced electronics, jet water engines, hull designs, attention to safety, use of every cubic square foot of interior space, and operational efficiency are amazing. Their engine rooms and bridges look and operate like something inside a futuristic Star Ship. The interior decor and furnishings are as stylish as anything on land. As I studied these beautiful super yachts, their yacht clubs and yachting culture, it became crystal clear to me that they are the PERFECT model on which to design our orbital tourism industry.

Yachting relaxes people and brings them closer to nature. The ocean's vastness provokes contemplation. At night, away from land or in secluded harbors the stars are bright and calling. On a calm and clear night many people feel that they are in orbit with stars flickering from horizon to horizon. I have now had discussions with several yachts-people who become intrigued and excited when I introduce them to the potentials of orbital yachting. They seem comfortable with the concept, and excited by this new opportunity.

The yacht clubs have become of special interest to me in my quest for finding a fundable orbital facility. They are totally funded and supported by membership fees with some revenues generated in their restaurants, bars, shops, and other member services. They are international, with yacht clubs all over the world, especially in Western Europe, Florida and California. The clubs provide moorings for as few as 20 yachts to over 200. They also provide important ship services such as fuel, food, crew, and basic maintenance as well as parking for the owners and passengers cars. Dry docking and yacht construction are done at separate private ship yards.

If we project orbital super yachts being assembled and operated in orbit as prestige, award and marketing oriented ventures, then we will need orbital yacht clubs to service them. The orbital yacht clubs will be funded by the yacht club members and are not profit oriented. Therefore, we have now removed one of the key barriers to privately financed facilities in Earth orbit by removing profitability as a requirement to justify the club's existence. I cracked the code!

As orbital space tourism grows and we design larger orbital yachts to carry more passengers and provide more in-orbit services, we will see the infrastructure and launch cost coming down and maturing into an orbital cruise line model. However, just like today, we will always have both private orbital yachts for the exclusive crowd and orbital cruise lines for the wider audience.

Another clear advantage in this perspective is that the yachting community is extremely wealthy and powerful. Therefore if we convince them that orbital yachting is the next very cool thing to do and they become inspired and engaged, we will have the political and financial strength to achieve success. Some of these people also own major media outlets which can provide us the media attention we want. Some billionaires who might be interested include Ted Turner who Founded CNN, donated a billion dollars to the United Nations, supported Jacques-Yves-Cousteau's exploration and popularization of earth's oceans. Turner is a great yachtsman having won the 1977 Americas Cup in his yacht Courageous. Another is Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle. There are dozens more who are directly involved in advanced technology, entertainment and aerospace plus hundreds more from all other world industries.

I can envision a Worlds Cup class orbital Super Yacht race around the Moon and back to Earth orbit within the next 30 years. The brightest and the bravest will be competing in some of the most sophisticated and beautiful engineering creations of all time. This ultra prestigious space race could be called "Solar System Cup."

Still another smart reason to focus on the yachting community is the potential of personal and cultural enlightenment which could occur as a result of their orbital experiences. Author Frank White's, book "The Overview Effect" describes the orbital experience as a growth of awareness to our position in the Cosmos and a deepening of respect for nature and other people. Orbital cruising and racing could produce such enlightenments in powerful people and their children which over time could have a highly positive effect of enhancing life on Earth.