Uplift Aerospace's NFTs come with a trip to space.

• Author: Swanson, Jacob

Some say that blockchain technology is taking us into the future. Others say it will take us into space.

UPLIFT AEROSPACE, a Park City-based company founded in 2019, is launching an NFT project called Space+. As the company puts it, Space+ is "the world's first NFT project to provide greater access for private citizens to participate in the space economy." It will also include future missions to space for some people involved, and there's talk about a "community-supported lunar mission" coming within the next few years.

The NFTs--which will serve as a membership tokenwill launch this spring, though many of the details like the official launch date, total number of NFTs, and floor price have yet to be announced. Josh Flanes, the CEO of Uplift Aerospace, says the group is trying to build community and support for the project. Then, they'll "cater what we do to those people that are supporting us so that they are the ones that receive the greatest benefit from what we're doing."

Hanes says the purpose and mission of Space+ is to "give greater access to space to the average person." That will include an ever-expanding list of products and experiences related to space exploration, manufacturing, and commerce. "We're focused on making sure that the community that we do have benefits from this project," he says.

Hanes knows he can't send everyone who buys a membership token to space, but he hopes Uplift Aerospace can provide utility to everyone involved. "The cost to access space is decreasing," he says. "It's still really expensive--obviously, we can't offer a spaceflight to every single person--but we can offer it to some, which is amazing in itself.

"But there are certain aspects, when it comes to what we are doing as a company, that we are going to try to give everybody access to--like items that have flown on the Space Station or flown in space. And then our lunar mission ... different aspects of that project, we'll be able to incorporate for a much broader group of people and not just a few."

DO WE NEED TO DEVELOP COMMERCE IN SPACE?

In early January, Uplift Aerospace announced that the company signed a contract with NASA to launch what it calls a "Constellation Vault" to the International Space Station this year. It will deploy in 2022, with plans to expand to additional space stations throughout the decade, according to a January 4th press release. "The vault will initially serve as an exhibit platform for Earth's most prized jewelry and...