Eric C. Anderson

Eric C. Anderson (born 1974) is an American entrepreneur and aerospace engineer. He is the co-founder and chairman of Space Adventures Ltd., the first commercial spaceflight company, which has arranged for eight missions for privately funded individuals to the International Space Station since 2001. Anderson is widely credited as having established the market for commercial spaceflight. He is also a founding partner of Space Angels Network, CEO of Intentional Software Corporation, co-founder and chairman of Planetary Power, Inc., co-founder and former co-chairman of Planetary Resources and chairman of Personal.com and Booster Fuels.

Early life and education Anderson was raised in Littleton, Colorado, by his father, an American real estate entrepreneur, and his Argentine mother.

He attended Columbine High School and graduated in 1992. Early in high school, Anderson intended to join the Air Force as a pilot, with the goal of eventually becoming an astronaut. and projects for Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G).

Space Adventures

Foundation While Anderson was at the NASA Academy program in 1995, he began thinking seriously about space tourism, and in particular decided that NASA would not be able to develop a program that could take civilians into space at a "reasonable cost".

Development of the business Anderson initially arranged for clients to experience flights to "the edge of space" in MiG-25 fighter jets, the first time a private citizen had paid to fly to orbit.

Commercial market for space travel In his work with Space Adventures, Anderson has been widely credited as the first to monetize spaceflight and demonstrate the viability of a commercial market for space travel, by proving there is demand for space tourism.

Anderson has stated that he sees tourism as a catalyst for the commercialization of space through encouraging development of cheaper transportation into space, which will eventually allow humanity to develop and colonize space, including the development of natural resources beyond earth. In an interview with Smart CEO, he said that he believes that it is "imperative" to explore space for humanity's long-term survival. Anderson is also the president and CEO of Intentional Software Corporation, a software development company founded by Charles Simonyi that develops solutions to make creating applications more intuitive and accessible to people who are not experienced in computer programming. Later that year, on December 15, 2010, he was chosen as the next chairman of the board of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, an organization that promotes the development of the commercial spaceflight industry. Anderson is also the co-founder and former co-chairman of Planetary Resources, Inc., a 2010s company that developed technology with the aim of carrying out exploration of asteroids and mining them for resources including platinum and other precious metals.

Speaking appearances and writing Anderson has appeared as a guest speaker and lecturer at conferences including the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Forbes Global CEO Conference, He has also contributed to two books, Kids Who Think Outside the Box by Stephanie Lerner and The Space Tourist’s Handbook, a guide to space tourism that he co-authored.

Philanthropy and organizations Anderson is a board member of the X Prize Foundation, and a founder of the Planetary Security Foundation, He is also a trustee of the Koshka Foundation and Seattle's Museum of Flight and a member of the Board of Governors for the National Space Society.

In 2008, he became a member of the Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum. He is also a member of the Young Presidents' Organization. the National Space Society and Space Tourism Society’s ORBIT Award and the World Technology Network’s "World Technology Award" in its space category. In 2010 he was named one of Ernst & Young's entrepreneurs of the year.