Born in 1974 in Denver, Colo., Mr. Eric Anderson, a leading astropreneur (as coined by Wired magazine), is currently the president and CEO of Space Adventures, Ltd. He is an outspoken advocate of commercial space transportation, private space exploration, and space tourism. Involved since its inception, he co-founded Space Adventures in 1997 with several former astronauts and leading visionaries from the aerospace, adventure travel, and entertainment industries.
Mr. Anderson's vision is to open the space frontier to everyone. It is his hope that through the development of the sub-orbital spaceflight program he helped engineer and the latest mission to take private explorers to the International Space Station, Space-Adventures 1, the company can benefit not only private individuals interested in space travel, but also the international space program as a whole. He shares in the belief that space exploration is vital to human progress and by opening the space frontier to private men and women from around the world, we can greatly enhance technological development and cultural understanding.
Previously, Mr. Anderson was the executive vice president and co-founder of Starport.com, an astronaut-endorsed space education and entertainment web site (Starport.com was sold to SPACE.com in June 2000). Mr. Anderson also worked as a business development lead for Analytical Graphics, a $30 million aerospace software firm. In addition, he held a research position with NASA.
Mr. Anderson has authored several technical papers and articles, on topics ranging from space tourism to infrared astronomy, from launch vehicle analysis to advanced space propulsion, from space sensor design to business and economic evaluations of various space-related ventures. He is also a guest speaker and lecturer on various topics in the aviation and aerospace industry. Mr. Anderson graduated magna cum laude from the University of Virginia, with a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, and was selected by USA Today as one of the nation's Top 40 graduating seniors.
