TLDR
- Dylan Taylor, CEO of Voyager Technologies, forecasts lunar settlements with working populations by the early 2030s
- The first moon-based employment opportunities are expected in mineral extraction, space-based data infrastructure, and energy systems
- Following Voyager’s public debut at a $3.8 billion valuation last year, Taylor joined the billionaire ranks at age 53
- According to Taylor, Mars serves better as an emergency contingency rather than a primary settlement target
- Tech leaders including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Sam Altman have voiced comparable visions for extraterrestrial living and employment
According to Dylan Taylor, the founder and chief executive of Voyager Technologies, humanity will establish permanent lunar residence and employment within the next ten years. Speaking with Fortune, Taylor projected that Earth’s inhabitants will witness illuminated lunar settlements visible from our planet by the early 2030s.
“We’re going to establish a permanent moon base with people both residing and working there,” Taylor stated.
Taylor highlights that humanity already maintains an uninterrupted space-based workforce spanning 26 years through the International Space Station. The industry’s current focus, he explains, centers on expanding this presence beyond a select group of highly trained astronauts to accommodate a significantly larger workforce.
Lunar Career Opportunities
According to Taylor, initial employment opportunities on the moon will center around extracting natural resources, establishing orbital computing facilities, and developing electrical infrastructure. He expresses skepticism that humanoid robotics, including Elon Musk’s Optimus platform, can independently manage all necessary tasks.
“Programming Optimus to handle every lunar challenge won’t be feasible,” Taylor explained. “Human problem-solvers will be essential on site.”
Taylor brings substantial credibility to these predictions. He accumulated his initial wealth through ventures in electronics, financial services, banking, and property investment before retiring at 37 to dedicate himself entirely to space industry pursuits.
His space career began with an angel investment in Space Adventures during 2007, followed by early-stage funding for Relativity Space alongside Mark Cuban. In 2017, he launched Space For Humanity, a charitable organization dedicated to democratizing access to commercial space travel.
Two years afterward, he established Voyager Technologies. The enterprise debuted on the New York Stock Exchange last year with a market capitalization of $3.8 billion, elevating Taylor to billionaire status at 53. Currently, Voyager is developing the International Space Station’s successor and maintains several NASA contracts.
Taylor personally experienced spaceflight aboard a Blue Origin mission in 2021, becoming the 606th human to exit Earth’s atmosphere.
The Red Planet as Plan B
Regarding Mars, Taylor adopts a more measured perspective. He characterizes the planet as insurance against catastrophic Earth-based events rather than a preferred settlement location.
“The moon essentially functions as part of Earth’s planetary neighborhood,” Taylor explained, echoing Musk’s position that humanity requires geographic diversification to survive potential asteroid impacts or similar catastrophes.
He recognizes that Mars presents substantially greater challenges than the moon due to harmful radiation exposure and extreme distance from Earth. Nevertheless, he believes a modest Martian settlement remains achievable, populated by individuals possessing what he describes as the “adventurer gene.”
Taylor’s predictions align with similar forecasts from other industry leaders. Musk currently anticipates crewed Mars expeditions launching in 2028, despite his 2016 projection of reaching Mars by 2024 failing to materialize. Jeff Bezos has projected millions of space residents by 2045, supported by robotic assistance for surface operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman anticipates that current university students will eventually secure lucrative space-based positions that will render contemporary careers obsolete.
Taylor maintains that sufficient numbers of adventurous individuals exist to populate a lunar workforce and, ultimately, a Martian settlement. The question, he insists, is not whether this will happen, but when.
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