"Humans Will Definitely Be Living and Working in Space"
Taylor's forecast is specific. "The next step would be the moon. That'll happen in the 2030s, probably early 2030s," he said in an interview. "We'll have a moon base, people living and working on the moon. You'll be able to look up at the moon and see lights on the moon."
He points out that a tiny slice of humanity already works in space: the International Space Station has had "humans continuously up there for 26 years." The industry, he says, is "working actively" on scaling that from a handful of trained astronauts to the general population.
The Jobs That Will Exist Up There
What would people actually do on the moon? Taylor points to resource mining, orbital data centers and power grid construction. And no, he does not think humanoid robots will take those jobs first.
"You're not going to be able to program Optimus to do everything on the moon," he said, referring to Tesla's humanoid robot. "You're going to have to have humans to figure it out."
The Man Making the Prediction
Taylor is not speculating from the sidelines. He made millions before turning 30 and ran public companies across electronics, finance, banking and real estate, then started over at 37 to chase his childhood dream of working in space.
His track record since then reads like a bet that kept doubling:
- In 2007, he became an angel investor in Space Adventures
- He invested early in Relativity Space, alongside Mark Cuban
- In 2017, he founded Space For Humanity, a nonprofit that plans to buy commercial spaceflight seats for people who would never otherwise have access
- Two years later he founded Voyager Technologies, which went public on the NYSE last year at a $3.8 billion valuation, making him a billionaire at 53
Voyager is now building the replacement for the International Space Station and holds multiple NASA contracts. Taylor has been up himself: he flew on a 2021 Blue Origin flight, becoming the 606th human in space.
Mars Is the Backup Plan, Not the New Home
The moon gets Taylor's near-term optimism. Mars gets his caution.
"Just because it's so much further away. Radiation is so much more of a bigger problem," he said.
He frames the Red Planet as insurance rather than real estate. "I agree with Elon that we want to have some diversification, in case something really bad happens here, an asteroid or something like that," he explained. "The moon really isn't sufficient diversification. The moon and the Earth are really the same planetary system."
Who goes to Mars will come down to who wants to. "A lot of people don't want to live on Mars," he said. Taylor counts himself among the willing: "I'd rather do the adventure. We're all on a one-way trip, whether we know it or not. It's just where you want to end up."
He believes enough people share what he calls "the adventurer gene" to seed a small colony. But he draws the line at grander visions: "This whole notion that we can create an entire civilization, terraform ours, it's going to take a long time to do that."
The Billionaire Consensus
Taylor's timeline slots into a chorus of similar predictions from the industry's biggest names.
Musk, the world's richest person and CEO of $1.8 trillion SpaceX, thinks humans will be on Mars as soon as 2028. His track record invites skepticism: in 2016 he said he wanted humans on Mars by 2024, which did not happen.
Bezos predicts "millions of people" will live in space by 2045, with robots doing the commuting. "If you need to do some work on the surface of the moon or anywhere else, we will be able to send robots to do that work," the Amazon and Blue Origin founder said at Italian Tech Week 2025. "I don't see how anybody can be discouraged who is alive right now."
Altman, the OpenAI CEO, says college graduates will hold "some completely new, exciting, super well-paid" jobs in space within a decade. He has even said he is jealous of young people, because his generation's early-career jobs will look "boring" and "old" by comparison.
What Comes Next
The predictions now have a scoreboard. Voyager's space station replacement, NASA's lunar program and SpaceX's Mars ambitions all face real deadlines in the next few years, and Taylor's "early 2030s" moon base gives the industry a target you can check from your backyard. If he is right, lights on the moon are less than a decade away.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who is Dylan Taylor?
- The billionaire founder and CEO of Voyager Technologies, which is building the International Space Station's replacement and holds multiple NASA contracts. He became the 606th human in space on a 2021 Blue Origin flight.
- When does Taylor say people will work on the moon?
- In the 2030s, probably the early 2030s, with a moon base whose lights would be visible from Earth.
- What jobs does he predict in space?
- Resource mining, orbital data centers and power grid construction, work he says humanoid robots cannot fully replace.
- What about living on Mars?
- Taylor sees Mars as diversification in case of an Earth catastrophe, not a new home for most people. He believes a small colony is possible but says terraforming a civilization "is going to take a long time."
- What do Musk, Bezos and Altman predict?
- Musk says humans on Mars as soon as 2028. Bezos says millions living in space by 2045. Altman says graduates will work well-paid space jobs within a decade.
