Billionaires Slighting Billionaires: Bill Gates Criticises Space Tourism Trend

Space tourism is one of the hot topics surrounding the space sector these days. There have been a lot of opinions, ranging from support for the space race push to outright outrage at the sheer waste of billions of funding. Some think we need to get the hell out of this planet and colonise the stars to preserve mankind. Others wish to see more change here on Earth. Bill Gates seems to be leaning towards the latter.

Bill Gates Criticises Musk and Bezos’ Obsession With Space Tourism

The tech billionaire, Bill Gates, spoke openly about the space tourism fad during an interview with CBS’ James Corden earlier this week, going as far as to say the two had ‘lost their heads.’ Gates admits that he has been obsessed over HIV and Malaria for years, probably boring people “at cocktail parties talking about diseases.”

This statement signifies that, unlike his peers, Bill Gates is one of the few billionaires who aren’t quick to give up on our planet. This isn’t the first time Gates has expressed his disinterest in venturing through space. ‘We have a lot to do here on Earth.’

Microsoft’s Efforts to Go Carbon-Neutral Have Shown Little Progress

Similarly to SpaceX and Amazon, Microsoft has played its part in polluting the Earth. The technologies we enjoy today come at a price: millions upon millions of garbage floating in the oceans and mountains of lithium-ion batteries left to degrade in landfills. While Bill Gates has indeed pushed for a greener and more environmentally conscious company, Microsoft has shown little to no progress in going carbon-neutral. While it’s not ideal, there is at least an attempt being made.

Space tourism could be the future, but we’d better focus on the present and the conservation of Earth while we’re still here, or risk our entire civilisation heading to extinction.