Jeff Bezos has already sent people to space in his Blue Origin rockets, now he\u2019s working out a way they could live there.<\/p>\n
The Amazon founder is dead set on making his ultimate science fiction dreams come true, by having a thriving population of humans circulating in space.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the next couple of decades, I believe there will be millions of people living in\u00a0space<\/a>. That\u2019s\u00a0how fast this is going to accelerate,\u201d he recently said at Italian Tech Week 2025.<\/p>\n A view of the proposed Orbital Reef space station which Jeff Bezos wants to make into a multi-purpose space destination. Blue Origin\/YouTube<\/p>\n In a statement published on his space company Blue Origin\u2019s YouTube page, the reasoning for the mission is made clear.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that, in order to preserve Earth, our home, for our grandchildren\u2019s grandchildren, we must go to space to tap its unlimited resources and energy.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, a large part of the mission is the preservation of our planet.<\/p>\n Orbital Reef may be a hub of industry and a cosmic getaway for the one percent. 10 News\/YouTube<\/p>\n A rendering of Orbital Reef heading toward another sunset. 10 News\/YouTube<\/p>\n Interior of Orbital Reef, a Blue Origin project that may be a small step toward his dream of putting millions of people in space. 10 News\/YouTube<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a lifelong passion to have a lot of people moving into space,\u201d Christian Davenport, author of \u201cRocket Dreams: Musk,\u00a0Bezos, and the Inside Story of the New, Trillion-Dollar Space Race<\/a>,\u201d told The Post.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got this vision where the space stations are so big, humanity can spread out into the solar system to live there and have all the heavy industry happen in space. Then Earth is preserved as a huge park.\u201d<\/p>\n Davenport admits the full-blown version may be centuries rather than decades away, but Bezos\u00a0already has an initial proof-of-concept project in the works. As a side benefit: It could potentially replace the increasingly deteriorating International Space Station.<\/p>\n It is anticipated as the first privately owned place in space, and\u00a0could be fully operational by 2030.<\/p>\n Jeff Bezos hopes to save the Earth and put millions into space. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Elon Musk is on a mission to colonize Mars. REUTERS<\/p>\n Known as Orbital Reef, the project is being produced in collaboration with Sierra Space, Boeing and others.<\/p>\n Blue Origin says it is a space station-like vessel that can hold up to 10 people while being deployed as a \u201cmixed use business park\u201d in low Earth orbit space. It is expected to be some 250 miles above the Earth\u2019s surface, close to where the International Space Station currently operates.<\/p>\n James Pethokoukis, an analyst focused on technology at the American Institute, told The Post, \u201cThis is the beginning of what he is talking about. It will be a first major step [in terms of space living] for Blue Origin.\u201d<\/p>\n Mars is the place for Elon Musk. ESA\/MPS et al. \/ SWNS<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s SpaceX rockets will likely be the transport of choice for the colonizers of Mars. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n And Pethokoukis won\u2019t be surprised to eventually see the craft circling our planet at 17,400 miles per hour \u2014 which is what\u2019s required to keep a stable orbit. This means one orbit of the planet every 90 mins.<\/p>\n \u201cLook at the International Space Station,\u201d said Pethokoukis, author of \u201cThe Conservative Futurist<\/a>.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re already living and working in space. I think the way to look at this is that we\u2019ll be doing economically valuable work in space \u2013 whether it\u2019s data centers<\/a> or some sort of energy production.\u201d<\/p>\n In both cases, sunlight will be the energy source, something another of Bezos\u2019 spacecraft, Blue Alchemist, is already working on how to harness from the moon.<\/p>\n James Pethokoukis would not bet a tremendous amount of money the ambition and timeline of Jeff Bezos.<\/p>\n Windows on Orbital Reef will passengers to look down at the Earth. Blue Origin\/YouTube<\/p>\n According to Blue Origin, the Orbital Reef will be \u201cthe premier mixed-use space station in low-earth orbit for commerce, research and tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n It anticipates a \u201cvibrant ecosystem,\u201d funded by tourists who want to experience life off the planet, other nations renting space on Orbital Reef, as well as companies, like those in the pharmaceutical sector, capitalizing on the microgravity environment to do experiments which they can\u2019t carry out on earth.<\/p>\n The author Christian Davenport envisions experiments being done in the microgravity environment of Jeff Bezos\u2019 orbiting community. Jonathan Newton<\/p>\n Orbital Reef, initially, will hold 10 passengers, thought it can be expanded to accommodate more. Blue Origin\/YouTube<\/p>\n Orbital reef will house 10 people to begin\u00a0with, but\u00a0is designed in a way that other sections can be blasted from earth into space and added on as demand increases.<\/p>\n In terms of tourists, the company sees itself providing what it calls \u201cexotic hospitality\u201d for adventurous one-percenters. Think of it as providing a futuristic kick like doing something such as climbing, say, Mount Everest, does today.<\/p>\n But this is just the first step. A project to be called O\u2019Neill colonies is the grand plan of Blue Origin. The name pays homage to Gerard O\u2019Neill, a Princeton physicist who put forward the vision and worked out the theory of how people could live in enormous space cylinders, which have come to be called O\u2019Neill Cylinders. Not coincidentally, Bezos attended the Ivy League university when O\u2019Neill taught there.<\/p>\n O\u2019Neill\u2019s vision would have stations in lower outer space which would spin while orbiting the earth in order to create the feel of gravity.<\/p>\n Science experiments will take place on Orbital Reef. Blue Origin\/YouTube<\/p>\n Orbital Reef will provide and outer space refuge for passengers who are wealthy enough to afford it. Blue Origin\/YouTube<\/p>\n Bezos\u2019 plan for the space colonies, sized at more than a mile wide, would include frozen water retrieved from the moon, according to CNN. Astronomy magazine says plant-based foods will come from huge greenhouses built in the colonies.<\/p>\n Bezos\u00a0is not the only eccentric, space-loving billionaire to dream of leaving planet earth. Elon Musk <\/a>has long been pushing out the idea of humans colonizing Mars, and frequently wears T-shirts which read \u201cOccupy Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n