Scientist-astronaut wants to make 'space travel as normal as flying'

What if space was accessible to everyone?

- Hind Aldah

Scientist astronaut Malik (Mac) Malkawi

(PHOTOS COURTESY: MAC MALKAWI)

Imagine booking a ticket and flying to space, just as you would with an airplane. That is what scientist astronaut Malik (Mac) Malkawi is trying to do.The philanthropist and founder of Borderless Labs Inc (Blinc) said that space travel could soon become more common and is working to make the UAE a hub for it.

“Our job is to make astronautics and space the new aviation,” Malkawi told Khaleej Times. He explained that shortly after the first airplane took off — which was still very expensive and inaccessible — demand rose and flights soon became more common.

He is trying to achieve the same with space flight, after the first commercial spacecraft took off. In June 2023, Virgin Galactic successfully launched the first commercial on a suborbital ride, 80km above ground. “My job is to make sure that space is as common as aviation, but you got to build an infrastructure for that,” Malkawi said.