For years, when people asked me “so when are you actually going to space?” my answer was always the same: Every day is a day closer than the one before.
It was true, but also safely non-committal. That answer has now changed.
Something pretty significant happened recently. At the end of March, Virgin Galactic released a market update that didn’t just highlight strong progress on their new spacecraft, it also announced the launch of a new astronaut portal.
Shortly after, I received an email inviting me to log in. And for the first time, there it was: an estimated flight window.
Now, it’s still broad, but it’s real. And importantly, it’s not that far away. As testing progresses and the new vehicles come into operation, that window will continue to narrow. It’s hard to overstate just how exciting that feels!
This week, things became even more tangible. By chance, my time in London aligned with a visit from Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier, who hosted a gathering for London Founding Astronauts (a subtle but meaningful evolution from the original “Future Astronauts” label).
It was an opportunity to reconnect with the team who have done an extraordinary job of keeping us engaged on what I often call the “journey to the journey”- a process that, in my case, has spanned more than a decade.
It was even more powerful hearing firsthand from those who have already flown.
Moments like that shift something, they turn ambition into inevitability and importantly, this no longer feels like a distant aspiration – now it feels like a countdown.
What’s struck me most throughout this experience isn’t just the technology or the milestone itself, but what it represents.
If you’ve been following the progress of NASA’s Artemis program, you’ll know this is a decade-long vision being executed with discipline, patience, and precision. It’s a powerful reminder that the most meaningful breakthroughs rarely happen overnight, they’re the result of sustained commitment to a future most people can’t yet see.
That’s a lesson I come back to often in business and leadership.
Big visions require time, they require resilience, and they require the ability to stay committed, even when progress feels incremental.
For me, the motivation to go to space has never just been about the experience itself.It’s the ultimate expression of a belief I’ve held for a long time - that one of the most powerful things you can do as a leader is actively seek out new ways of seeing the world.
Because when your perspective shifts, everything else follows - your decisions, your strategy, your impact.
And now, for the first time, that perspective shift has a timeline. The countdown is on.
If you’d like to revisit some of the earlier steps in this journey, I’ve linked a couple of past posts below—from zero gravity training to G-force preparation, and my time at Spaceport America for the final flight of VSS Unity in July 2024.
More to come as that window narrows.
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