--- title: "OceanGate Cofounder Now Planning Totally Safe Colony Above Venus" description: "Ever wanted to live on Venus? In a few short decades, you can — or that's what the other OceanGate cofounder claims." date: "2023-07-31" modified: "2023-07-31" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/oceangate-cofounder-venus-colony" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "oceangate" - "submersible" - "the digest" - "Venus" --- # OceanGate Cofounder Now Planning Totally Safe Colony Above Venus ![Ever wanted to live on Venus? In a few short decades, you can — or that's what the other OceanGate cofounder claims.]() *\Image: Anadolu via Getty / Futurism\* ## Cloud Nine Ever wanted to live in the atmosphere of our Solar System's hottest planet? In just a few short decades, you might — or at least, that's what the *other* co-founder of OceanGate, the builder of the [doomed Titanic-seeking submersible](), is saying. In an [interview with *Insider*](), still-living [OceanGate]() cofounder Guillermo Söhnlein introduced his latest ambitious venture: [Humans2Venus](), a research group bent on creating a colony that floats above the uber-hot planet's surface and that he says, by 2050, will be home to 1,000 people. As hostile as the depths of the ocean are, Venus just might be worse. Though the planet has at times been referred to as "Earth's twin," [NASA notes]() that its thick sulfuric atmosphere — the same one that Söhnlein wants to cram a colony into — traps heat in a "runaway greenhouse effect," which leads to surface temperatures of a whopping 900 degrees Fahrenheit. If Venus is our twin, it's the evil one. The Argentina-born businessman admits, at least, that going to Venus is something of a moonshot. "You're absolutely right that when you talk about going to Venus, it would raise eyebrows outside the space industry," Söhnlein told *Insider*. "And it even raises eyebrows inside the space industry." "It is aspirational," he added, "but I think it's also very doable by 2050." ## Forget About Dre All that trouble with the Titan submersible, meanwhile, is beside the point for the entrepreneur, who resigned as CEO of OceanGate in 2013 but maintained a minority ownership. "Forget OceanGate. Forget Titan. Forget Stockton \[Rush, the [CEO who died]() in the submersible's implosion\]," Söhnlein suggested. "Humanity could be on the verge of a big breakthrough and not take advantage of it because we, as a species, are gonna get shut down and pushed back into the status quo." It's unclear, for now, what exact technological breakthroughs Söhnlein and Humans2Venus expect to bring forth in the next 27-odd years that would allow for a spaceship colony that could withstand the [ultraviolet radiation of Venus' atmosphere]() for prolonged periods of time. Those matters, however, seem to also be outside his grand vision — and as for the late OceanGate CEO, Söhnlein appears to have nothing but admiration. "If we didn't have people that like \[Rush\]," he told *Insider*, "we'd probably all still be in caves." **More on OceanGate:** [*Friend of OceanGate CEO Says Sub Was a "Mousetrap for Billionaires"*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()