Humanity is about to engage in one of the greatest adventures, if not the greatest adventure, of all time.

Some 60 years after the first human being traveled into Earth orbit, a robust NewSpace industry is embarking on an unprecedented migration into the solar system. We are creating, for the first time ever, a spacefaring civilization. And we at Brodeur are deeply committed to doing whatever we can to help this new generation of pioneers succeed.

The backdrop

Two of the leading explorers of space, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, envision millions of people living and working elsewhere in the solar system during our lifetimes. Those who doubt Musk and Bezos do so at their peril: the two have demonstrated quite convincingly their ability to turn dreams into reality through private enterprise.

You may well be one of these pioneers yourself, and as determined to bring about the spacefaring era as we are.

Why space?

The National Academies of Science has identified two primary justifications for investing taxpayer money in space exploration, though these reasons apply equally to private enterprise:

(1) Practical: focusing primarily on economic benefits to humanity, both on Earth and in space;

(2) Aspirational: focusing primarily on the positive benefits of exploration in general and of achieving lofty goals as a society. One of those goals is humanity’s need to have a Plan B if the Earth becomes uninhabitable.

Important questions

If we execute our migration to space properly, we could bring about an unprecedented golden age for humanity, during which we repair the damage done to our home planet and adopt a new set of ethics for the exploration of distant worlds.

At the same time, many issues remain to be decided. For example, what kind of civilization will we build? Who governs what and how? What is the role of the military in outer space? To what extent should we use nuclear power to explore and settle the solar system? Will we create greater economic and social inequality as some entrepreneurs strike it rich by mining asteroids or creating luxury hotels on the Moon? With the solar system as our new environment, do we need to think differently about being “green”?

As we look ahead, it essential to note that many NewSpace entrepreneurs are motivated as much by aspirational as well as economic objectives. They want to see a new and better society built off the home planet, one where many of the problems and mistakes that characterize life on Earth, such as national conflicts, recede. They have been inspired by the experiences of astronauts as they look back at the Earth and experience what has come to be called the Overview Effect, a realization of the inherent unity of the Earth.

As exciting as the vision is, however, there’s no guarantee it will come to pass. We’ve seen many fascinating historical possibilities fail to thrive. For this important vision to be realized, we have to work together to convince people the migration to space is important and economically viable.

The Brodeur Vision

At Brodeur, we realize that our vision of new and better civilizations beyond our planet depends, in large part, on the success of the commercial enterprises dedicated to this larger vision.

That is why Brodeur Partners, a leading strategic communications company headquartered in Boston, has created the Brodeur Space Group. We have concluded that there are two critical communications tasks to perform for our vision of the future to become reality:

(1) Entrepreneurial space companies need to “come down to Earth.” By that, we mean they must show how their operations in outer space will benefit the people of the home planet. Our recent research on this topic has been captured in an e-book (free download).

(2) Terrestrial companies need to “get into space.” By that, we mean that every company has a space story to tell, and we want to help them tell it. Without a space story, a company will be seen as out of touch – much as if it had no environmental sustainability story.

We also believe there is urgency for education providers – from kindergarten through universities – to reflect the likelihood that that space will be as pivotal to our future as the internet was to students of the early 1990s. In addition to the STEM subjects, space challenges can deftly inform the study of all the classic subjects, including literature, history, psychology, sociology, political science and, of course, business.

If you’re a space company, terrestrial company or higher-ed institution, the Brodeur Space Group is eager to explore these challenges with you. The group includes as senior consultant Frank White, author of The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution. His book and his work on behalf of the space movement has brought the big picture into the space exploration conversation over the past 30 years. John Brodeur, chairman of Brodeur Partners, is cofounder of the Space Group and actively involved with it, along with senior members of the Brodeur team, Steve McGrath and Jeff Aubin.

If you are interested in learning more about the big picture in space and how we might help you succeed, please drop us a note at SpaceInfo@Brodeur.com. And let’s embark on the adventure together.