--- title: "Jeff Bezos: In the Future, We’ll Live In “Giant Space Colonies”" description: "## \"Giant Space Colonies\"" date: "2019-02-25" modified: "2019-02-25" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/jeff-bezos-future-giant-space-colonies" categories: - "Future Society" - "Jeff Bezos" - "Off-World" - "Space" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "blue origin" - "jeff bezos" - "space colonization" - "the digest" --- # Jeff Bezos: In the Future, We’ll Live In “Giant Space Colonies” ![Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos thinks humanity will "live in giant O'Neal-style space colonies," according to a recent interview rather than settling on planets.]() *\Image: Rick Guidice NASA Ames/Research Center \* ## "Giant Space Colonies" Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos thinks that in the future humanity will live in "giant space colonies," rather than settling on the surface of planets, according to [an interview]() with *Space News* senior staff writer Jeff Foust last week. The concept is pretty simple, according to Bezos: travel to other planets requires a lot of fuel and energy. "The space colonies we'll build will have many advantages," he said. "The primary one is that they'll be close to Earth." ## One Step at a Time But what happens to our beloved planet once most of us have moved to these space colonies? Bezos thinks heavy industry — think mining and resource extraction — will move elsewhere in the Solar System. "Ultimately what will happen, is this planet will be zoned residential and light industry," he said. "This is the gem of the Solar System. Why would we do heavy industry here? It's nonsense." Bezos also referenced the work of physicist Gerard O'Neill, who came up with the idea of a cylinder-shaped space settlement design known as an "O'Neill cylinder, " in which two counter-rotating cylinders would provide gravity for human settlers while mitigating gyroscopic effects. Similar space colonies have been depicted in popular sci-fi movies including "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968). ## To the Moon and Beyond Bezos and his team at Blue Origin are hard at work providing humanity with a transportation option to get into space. And they have some ambitious plans: to land a robotic space cargo carrier on the Moon [by 2023](). But it's not a race. After all, Earth is a pretty great place. "Very few people are going to want to leave this planet permanently — it's just too amazing," Bezos said. **READ MORE:** [Jeff Bezos just gave a private talk in New York. From utopian space colonies to dissing Elon Musk's Martian dream, here are the most notable things he said.]() \[*Business Insider*\] ***More on Blue Origin: [Jeff Bezos: New Shepard Will Launch First People Into Space "This Year"]()*** ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()