Billionaires are officially going to space.
Not for science. Not for survival. For fun.
Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, soared aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard, Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, took a joyride with Virgin Galactic, and Japanese mogul Yusaku Maezawa vacationed on the International Space Station. While the rest of us are sweating through weirdly-warm winters and ice caps are disappearing, the ultra-wealthy are getting into their private rockets and posting space selfies.
It’s like a very expensive version of “look what you can’t have.”
I will admit that space is cool. I grew up on NASA documentaries and glow-in-the-dark solar system kits. However, there is a difference between exploring the universe to expand human knowledge and blasting off for a ten-minute thrill ride while Earth is actively on fire. According to CNN, Katy Perry was in space for a total of 11 minutes and Jeff Bezos wore a cowboy hat to space. It’s almost comical how unserious billionaires treat such a costly adventure.
All of this would not bother me as much if things down here were not completely falling apart.
Climate change is not some far-off warning anymore. It is happening right now in our neighborhoods, our seasons, and our newsfeeds. But instead of doubling down on fixing the only planet we have, we are watching billionaires treat space like a luxury vacation. According to CNN, Jeff Bezos spent an estimated $5.5 billion on his 11-minute spaceflight.
And these trips aren’t harmless: according to a 2024 study published in Earth’s Future, a single rocket launch can emit up to 300 tons of carbon dioxide into the upper atmosphere, where it stays longer and causes greater warming.
Somehow, we, the not ultra-wealthy, are the ones being told to save the world. Turn off the lights. Use paper straws. Carry a reusable water bottle. I am not saying we should not do those things, but when billionaires are pumping carbon into the atmosphere for a joyride, it feels a little unfair to put the weight of the planet on people who are not in the highest tax bracket.
Billionaires often justify their space trips as “exploration,” but real exploration prioritizes collaboration, research, and accessibility, not $450,000 joyrides, as reported by Space.com. True progress would mean funding public agencies like NASA, which develops tech with real-world impact, and investing in Earth-first solutions like carbon capture, renewable energy, and disaster reliefs. Yet while billionaires race to space, NASA, responsible for much of that real progress, is facing a 20% budget cut under the Trump administration’s latest plan.
Even though billionaires can afford to escape the world, the rest of us have to stay. We adapt. We protest. We clean up the mess.
Maybe it is time we stop glamorizing space tourism and start asking better questions. For example, what would it look like if all that money, energy, and brain power went into protecting the place we already live? What if we treated Earth with the same awe we reserve for stars and moons?
We don’t need another planet to escape to. We need to take care of the one we already have.
