Our Mission
The Credo
The Space Frontier Foundation was founded in 1988 as a response to the founding of the National Space Society through the merger of the National Space Institute, founded by Wernher von Braun, and the L-5 Society, founded by Gerard K. O'Neill and others. The Foundation members were concerned by the near unanimous reliance on Government programs by the members of both NSI and L-5. Foundation founders were not impressed by the inability of Government space programs until that point to demonstrate any urgency or budgetary reality. The founders were also convinced that, as technology improved, the abiility of commercial companies and private individuals to build a better future in space would begin to improve exponentially.
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The world we live in today is proof that they were right.
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The fundamental unifying view the Foundation is found in our credo:
The Space Frontier Foundation is an organization of people dedicated to opening the Space Frontier to human settlement as rapidly as possible.
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Our goals include protecting the Earth’s fragile biosphere and creating a freer and more prosperous life for each generation by using the unlimited energy and material resources of space.
Our purpose is to unleash the power of free enterprise and lead a united humanity permanently into the Solar System.
The Foundation is organized around Advocates as opposed to members. Advocates are invited to join the Foundation and are approved by existing Advocates. Advocates are empowered to act on behalf of the Foundation to advance the Credo. The major accomplishments of the Foundation over the years include many members' involvement in the attempt to commercialize the Mir space station, the widespread use of the word "newspace" to describe the emerging commercial space industry, the subsequent NewSpace Conferences that were the incubator for many startups over the years, and the numerous policy successes such as the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004.
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But we are also known for asking the hard questions and pointing out the absurdities. We do what others say is impossible. We do NOT accept the world as it is.
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I aim to misbehave.
- Captain Malcolm Reynolds