Science & Technology

This Revolutionary Moment in Space Exploration | Chris Hadfield | TED

Published

8 months ago

January 2, 2026

What does it feel like to see Earth from outer space and imagine humanity’s next steps? Astronaut Chris Hadfield, who has flown two Space Shuttle missions and served as commander of the International Space Station, explores the recent leaps in space exploration. From the thrills and risks of commercial space travel to collaborating as a species to shape the future, Hadfield reflects on what inspires innovation and our dreams of visiting the stars. (This conversation, hosted by TED’s Whitney Pennington Rodgers, was part of an exclusive TED Membership event. TED Membership is the best way to support and engage with the big ideas you love from TED. To learn more, visit ted.com/membership.) (Recorded at TED Membership on October 28, 2025)

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Related Topics:Exploration featured future Humanity Innovation Space technology TED TED Talk TED Talks TEDTalk TEDTalks

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14 Comments

@durnboburnbo9107

January 2, 2026 at 11:17 am

I literally just watched this guy

Reply
@tehdii

January 2, 2026 at 11:20 am

WOW they are getting bored with keeping all that fusion tech and teleportation devices and slowly are releasing it through new discoveries. TED is so behind the curve it is silly…

Reply
@TrueCrimeQueen

January 2, 2026 at 11:31 am

Be safe everyone ❤

Reply
@shrinkiop

January 2, 2026 at 11:59 am

Only ielts student are here 😂😂

Reply
@geraldbrucejohnson

January 2, 2026 at 12:14 pm

Liars!

Reply
@vesawuoristo4162

January 2, 2026 at 12:28 pm

Space junk is already a big problem for operating in earth orbit and they are launching thousands internet satellites. What could go wrong?

Reply
@fouziaqazi9400

January 2, 2026 at 12:50 pm

wow.inspiring

Reply
@peterston4039

January 2, 2026 at 3:19 pm

Define “Space Travel” – we barely made it out of our atmosphere. Yes it’s “Space” but we really have not traveled any place, nor do we have the tech to do it. We do not have the right fuel, the right “Space Ship” to overcome what we could run into. Even Micrometeorites will kill the ship if we go any longer distance and chances to encounter increase. We have not enough speed to really go anywhere, Alpha Centauri – 7,000 years away with the fastest gear we got.
Mars – minimum 3 years round trip at current tech levels – longer if we take a look around and the ship survives.
Did we make progress – yes, but is it enough? We are not anywhere near a Type 1 civilization, and instead people looking at this as a global opportunity, we quibble amongst each other like schoolyard bullies. We have politicians with the foresight of a duck (might be insult to Ducks) and clueless what a Type 1 would entail. We cant get our act together knowing Global changes will kill us – yeah all excited about Space Travel….
Just like a current global challenges, if we dont get off the ground, literally, in – by space terms – a fairly short period of time, when the sun expands – it wont matter what we did…… or how we did…… and no aliens will ever know we existed…

Reply
@urbanstrencan

January 3, 2026 at 5:46 am

Great talk. Space is just so interesting the next frontier, 🤟💪

Reply
@ianwhitworth3264

January 3, 2026 at 3:01 pm

Always great to hear what Chris has to say, inspiring!

Reply
@АсетЖунусов-х3к

January 3, 2026 at 5:58 pm

МВД не пустит маньяка в космос

Reply
@jacksonfurlong3757

January 3, 2026 at 9:56 pm

A pressurized air system cannot exist directly adjacent to vacuum without dispersing.
Enjoy your science fiction, kids.

Reply
@sakimi9192

January 4, 2026 at 2:33 am

Absolutely fascinating! Chris Hadfield’s insights on space exploration are truly inspiring. This is exactly the kind of visionary thinking we need for humanity’s future among the stars! 🚀✨

Reply

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Published

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00:00 Intro
1:02 TechCrunch Disrupt and the Startup Battlefield 200
3:17 The DOJ is investigating a16z over board seats
14:47 Why Stripe just paid $7.5B for “the Stripe for AI”
18:18 The mid-tier AI scramble: gateways, pivots, and acquihires
23:17 Anthropic’s revenue surges while OpenAI’s losses deepen
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32:30 Uber teams up with Zipline for drone delivery
37:19 Wispr hits a $2B valuation
38:26 Outro