Eric C. Anderson is one of the leading entrepreneurs in the space industry. He has led the development of commercial human spaceflight and the space tourism industry since its inception, and is a true astropreneur (as coined by Wired magazine). Mr. Anderson co-founded Space Adventures, Ltd. in 1998 with several former astronauts and leading visionaries from the aerospace, adventure travel and entertainment industries.

Since founding, and having served as President and CEO of Space Adventures, Mr. Anderson has led the world's premier space tourism company through several successful years and has sold more than $120 million (USD) in spaceflights, including those taken by the first and only four tourists who have actually flown to space: Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Greg Olsen and Anousheh Ansari.

He has developed and financed over $500 million (USD) in new projects for Space Adventures, including two global spaceports and the first private voyage to the moon, set to launch in 2010. Under Mr. Anderson's direction, Space Adventures remains the leader of the space tourism industry through the continuous launches of commercial passengers to the International Space Station, the recent offering of a circumlunar mission and through future suborbital spaceflights.

Mr. Anderson is an oft-seen broadcast interviewee, including multiple appearances on the Today Show (NBC), Good Morning America (ABC), Your World with Neil Cavuto (Fox News), Fox & Friends (Fox News), CNN Headline News and BBC World. He is also a guest speaker and lecturer on various topics within the aviation/aerospace and travel industries. Recent speaking engagements include WIRED NextFest, The WTTC Global Travel & Tourism Summit, and The Forbes CEO Forum.

Mr. Anderson also co-authored the Space Tourist's Handbook, published in 2005 with bestselling author Joshua Piven.

As an outspoken advocate of commercial space transportation, private space exploration and space tourism, Mr. Anderson's vision is to open the space frontier to all private citizens which will then enable the development of space resources for the benefit of humanity.

Previously, Mr. Anderson was the principal and co-founder of Starport.com, later sold to SPACE.com in 2000. Mr. Anderson was also lead engineer and business development lead for aerospace software firm Analytical Graphics, Inc., and has held various consulting and research positions with NASA, where he authored several technical papers, articles and evaluations on topics ranging from space tourism and launch-vehicle analysis to the business and economics of various space-related ventures.

Mr. Anderson graduated magna cum laude from the University of Virginia with a degree in aerospace engineering, and was selected by USA Today as one of the nation's Top 40 university graduates of 1996. In 2006, he received the University of Virginia Engineering Foundation Outstanding Young Engineering Graduate Award. He is 32 years old and lives in Vienna, Virginia. He is a member of the Standard & Poor's Society of Industry Leaders, the World Travel and Tourism Council and the Young Presidents Organization, and is a Board member of the X Prize Foundation and Zero-G Corporation.

Mr. Anderson has remained in high demand internationally as a speaker since co-founding Space Adventures in 1998 and making history by launching the world's first private space travelers to orbit. As a speaker, his experience includes delivering keynote addresses to large corporate, educational, and non-profit audiences, and detailed interviews and feature appearances in television news and educational programs.

Commercial space has undergone a renaissance of market activity within the past decade owing largely to shifting paradigms and new business models. Mr. Anderson draws heavily upon the lessons he learned in creating the world's first space tourism company and pioneering new perceptions of the commercial use of space in his speeches.

Mr. Anderson speaks on a wide range of topics relating to the commercial space market. Although the commercial space market serves as the framework for his speeches, his topics are applicable to any industry, market, academic endeavor, or other area. Some of the topics on which Mr. Anderson speaks regularly include:

• Innovation, creativity and "thinking outside the planet"
• Sales strategies, markets, and marketing and selling the intangible
• For space specific topics, Mr. Anderson also provides discussions concerning the past, present, and future of spaceflight and its commercial implications.