You’re viewing a past speaker’s bio. They are not currently scheduled for the upcoming program.
Described as both a rebel and a respected leader, Rick Tumlinson is one of the most influential figures in the space field. Dubbed one of the world’s top space visionaries, he’s been called the “Godfather” of the commercial space movement in the United States.
A leading writer, speaker, and six-time Congressional witness, Rick doesn’t just talk the talk. Among his many accomplishments, he signed the first private astronaut to fly to the International Space Station, led the commercial takeover attempt of the Russian Mir space station, helped launch the first mission to detect water on the Moon, started one of the first asteroid mining companies, and the first private space suit company. He signed the first commercial space data purchase agreement and helped establish NASA’s Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG).
Rick is also a co-founder of the Space Frontier Foundation, which coined the term “NewSpace,” and served on the founding board of the XPrize.
More recently, he founded SpaceFund, a Texas-based venture capital firm that has invested in more than 20 frontier space companies and serves as a member of the U.S. Space Force Doctrine Organization Group. Rick also hosts The Space Revolution on iRoc Space Radio/iHeartMedia and is the creator of the New Worlds Conference and the Space Cowboy Ball, produced by his non-profit EarthLight Foundation. His work appears in Scientific American, SpaceNews, and Space.com.
As a result of his world-changing work, in 2015, he won the World Technology Award with Craig Venter of the Human Genome Project, and in 2024, he received the Future of Humanity Lifetime Achievement Award.
His upcoming book, Why Space? The Purpose of People, explores how space can help us find meaning—not just out there, but here on Earth.