Innovation is found in those who let curiosity do the driving – letting the world stimulate the imagination to orchestrate change. Fearless leaders like Elon Musk, Richard Branson, or Canada’s first female astronaut Roberta Bondar are definite visionaries who changed and are changing the way we envision space exploration and what the next generation of space exploration means.

These individuals are pushing boundaries on huge space projects that require immense resources, but also understand that there is high pay off and opportunities to ensure that the aerospace industry continues to grow.

The aerospace industry is without a doubt highly innovative and ever-evolving. Companies like SpaceX or DARPA use imagination to dream of the impossible and find the resources to make those dreams possible. Doing the impossible inspires, which ultimately causes further innovation. Companies pushing the frontiers of space recognize the importance of space exploration for the next generations and that investing in space exploration can propel terrestrial economic growth.

Through exploration we can aggressively push to find out ‘why’ and how things work, testing new ideas, leading to revolution and innovation. Recognizing that we are ultimately responsible for our contributions to space exploration and that these contributions can help advance complex projects to be sustainable on Earth in an era of extreme change. The key to the next generation of exploration is a progression of technology. Companies who can embrace the lessons we’ve learned on the Space Shuttle program or the International Space Station for example, and apply it to a new wave of technology will ultimately be successful.