A Harbor For Space Pirates: Mahoney Praises Space Frontier Foundation

Sean Mahoney became part of the Space Industry by accident. 

“Unlike so many of the folks in this industry, I stumbled into it. It was other attributes of the industry that really drew me in,” Mahoney told Michael Laine, show host of Dare Greatly, during a recent podcast. 

Mahoney got involved with the Space Foundation in 2016 or so. In the beginning, he said he got brushed off by a lot of people at big companies with “a lot of importance about themselves,” whenever he told others he was working for his previous company Masten Space Systems. 

Yet, as he became a member of the Space Frontier Foundation, Mahoney realized with clarity the vision and purpose of building a bright future for humans in Space. 

What Space Frontier Foundation Is, and Why It Matters
The Space Frontier Foundation is a space advocacy foundation, dedicated to making a perfect future for humans in Space. 

The foundation was a home for many of the “Space Pirates” described in Lori Garver’s Escaping Gravity. People with non-science and non-NASA traditional backgrounds are becoming more prominent in the commercialization effort of Space. For these individuals, the mission values of the Space Frontier Foundation offered a haven. 

Mahoney credits his origins outside of the Space industry for his success at the Space Frontier Foundation. The group needed someone to promote the mission statement. Mahoney’s background in business administration made him the one for the job, even though there was another member of the team who was more adept at explaining the science. 

Blue Origin’s Scholarship  
Space Frontier Foundation was going through a rough patch financially when the group received its Blue Origin Club For the Future Scholarship. The scholarship not only covered operating expenses, but it also supported some higher-level ambitions the group was targeting. 
Mahoney said that the scholarship was a great boost for the organization, which was fed a lot of volunteers by the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space organization.

Looking To the Future
The Space Frontier Foundation is driven to find a framework that solves the necessities humans will need to successfully populate Space. The drive is to settle Space through non-governmental means. While there will be a governmental presence in Space, this foundation focuses on the rest of the story. 

Lessons Learned
Mahoney said that he’s learned to “revel in the struggle” itself. He and Mr. Laine discussed how, in the Space industry, a 99.75% success rate is still considered a failure. To advance in Space, despite this extremely narrow margin for error, Mahoney believes that Space pioneers should revel in just how hard things are to do and revel in the journey of executing those massive challenges.