By: Shari Parsons
Throughout his career as a global business leader, space innovator, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, Dylan Taylor has become one of the space industry’s modern visionaries, spearheading and influencing countless initiatives, advancements, and progressive plans for the sector’s immediate future.
Here, Dylan answers several questions pertaining to his experiences in the space industry and beyond.
Q: How has your passion for space exploration shaped your leadership style and overall business philosophy?
A: The space industry is constantly changing and aiming higher and higher each year; being at the forefront of that advancement is inherently motivating because it constantly pushes you to innovate and prepares your teams to keep up with the change and innovation.
Q: What goes into maintaining motivation and vision amidst many concurrent obligations and goals?
A: Balancing responsibilities warrants some organization, which itself requires some natural motivation. You have to find creative ways to keep your vision clear and steadfast while taking time for your personal life and well-being. Since I love what I do so much, I am very lucky to have my work not really be work at all but rather a natural compulsion and purpose-driven life.
Q: How do you balance the idealism of space exploration with the practical realities of running a successful business?
A: By seeing these factors as symbiotic partners serving a greater purpose – without allowing the practical business variables to override space idealism too much. Space holds so much potential for our planet, from creating abundance for everyone to environmental awareness and conservation, and those issues likely will remain central to the industry’s future.
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a leader in the space industry right now, and how do you hope to solve them?
A: There are many challenges in this field, but one significant hurdle has been working to align and accommodate industry figures and personnel with diverse perspectives, ideologies, and life experiences. The space industry has become an increasingly far-reaching and diverse field, which is a fantastic step, but that progress also requires a more nuanced and forward-thinking leadership style. Leading by example, in that regard, is something I try to keep front of mind.
Q: What is the most important factor for long-term success in the space industry?
A: The industry’s continued embrace of our purpose. We go to space to benefit Earth. I very much share Garry O’Neill’s vision that we can migrate heavy infrastructure into stable orbits and ultimately make the Earth a national park.
Q: How do you see the intersection of technology, policy, and business influencing the future of space exploration?
A: In recent years, we’ve seen how overarching policy can inform exciting, fruitful breakthroughs in space. When you pair these changes with the implications of recent milestones in aerospace and engineering, this so-called “new space race” has given way to entities that are redefining the future on a daily basis and that stand to change everything for humankind when it may soon need it most.
Q: What personal experiences or milestones in your career have had the greatest impact on your vision for the space industry?
A: My founding of Space For Humanity has been a particularly rewarding experience in the last few years. We have had the honor of sending some of the world’s most unsung visionaries and leaders into space for the first time, which has augmented their already impressive resumes and allowed them to apply the overview effect to their post-flight work and advocacy on Earth. In the process, many of these individuals set historical milestones regarding space industry diversity and social advancement, standing as true heroes and role models for their respective communities and the space industry at large.
Q: How do you view the broader societal implications of space becoming more accessible to humankind?
A: Space access can hold so many positive implications for humanity from an emotional and social standpoint; it can put existential matters into perspective in a way that can truly embed itself in the soul, inspiring genuine positive behavioral change. Through my work and various interests, I remain very committed to the infrastructure element of humanity’s growing presence in space so that we can further enable going to Space to benefit Earth.
Published by: Annie P.
