How many people are needed to get a human into space?

When we think of organizations that are capable of accomplishing human spaceflight, we think of NASA and SpaceX. Maybe Virgin Galactic comes to mind and possibly some other companies. These are all large organizations that share three characteristics: they are backed by a substantial budget, have access to cutting-edge technology, and exhibit a dedication to quality in everything they do.

Yet there is another remarkable company pursuing human spaceflight that has none of these characteristics: Copenhagen Suborbitals. They are a group of fifty unpaid volunteers that share a passion for spaceflight and rockets (they were twenty when they started). The company received their funding through crowdfunding, donations, and speaking fees from talks about their work.

They can’t afford custom-made parts in their rocket because the cost for development and production is too high. Instead, they rely on parts that have been made (and tested) millions of times. For example, when they needed to prevent a valve in the rocket from freezing, they didn’t reengineer the valve or come up with a sophisticated workaround. Instead, they installed a standard hairdryer that heated the valve.

Their approach to quality is also different from what many expect from the space business. They say, “It’s a constant fight to keep quality low. If the quality gets too high, the rocket will never get finished.”

Are they successful? So far, they have launched a crash test dummy (to simulate a human’s weight), and they plan to launch one of their newest rockets next summer.

What a great example for the human side of innovation!

What is the lesson from this? Don’t put off goals because they seem too big. If we allow the human side of innovation to play out, we can come up with creative solutions and overcome remarkable challenges.