4SPACE's Chantelle Baier Leads Women Entrepreneurs to the Moon | Media.com

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The world’s first female-owned space company, 4SPACE, will continue its pioneering work when it sends a Jeff Koons artwork to the Moon on February 14, creating history’s first off-planet art gallery.&nbsp;The project – carried by NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) on a SpaceX rocket and landed on the Moon by Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander – will focus on a collection of 125 specially-created Jeff Koons Moon Phase sculptures, which will be displayed at the South Pole of the Moon in perpetuity.&nbsp;The audacious project is the work of 4SPACE CEO and founder, Ms Chantelle Baier, who has project-managed the Jeff Koons art gallery as part of her ensuring that more cultural and aesthetic projects can go into outer space, and that non-traditional social groups can participate in the space project.&nbsp;“I established 4SPACE in 2017 to bring art, design and media into outer space,” said Ms Baier, who was educated in both science and design disciplines. “4SPACE’s initiative to install Jeff Koons’ artwork on the Moon is a celebration of the creativity of art alongside science and engineering. I hope it also opens up horizons for people who have not traditionally been include in space, and they could be artists, women, people of colour and musicians. I’m hoping that the Jeff Koons art gallery on the Moon makes the impossible seem possible.”&nbsp;Ms Baier said the intention of the NASA Artemis missions to put the first female and Black astronauts on the Moon in 2025, were important steps in the space exploration story, but it was also important that women and other non-traditional constituents were influencing the business and culture of space.&nbsp;“I’m a woman, I come from a background of fashion design, and I grew-up on an isolated farm in Saskatchewan,” said Ms Baier. “So, I understand the outsider perspective when it comes to the business of space. I believe there’s millions of women out there who perhaps haven’t become involved in space because they see too many barriers, but I say they have something to contribute and not only in the disciplines of science and engineering.”&nbsp;On February 14 the Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander will launch from Cape Canaveral’s historically significant launchpad 39A on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Eight days after take-off, the lander will descend to the Moon’s surface with a polycarbonate transparent cube fastened to its exterior, which contains the 125 Moon Phase sculptures created by Jeff Koons.&nbsp;Ms Baier said 4SPACE’s polycarbonate cube had been designed to withstand the Moon’s environment and it would remain in its position at the lunar South Pole forever, protected by the Artemis Accords which gives ‘historic site’ status around a landing zone.&nbsp;The Jeff Koons Moon Phase sculptures are each 1-inch in diameter and will adorn the Moon’s surface, while a set of 15-inch replicas will be auctioned on Earth to commemorate the Moon landing. 4SPACE will also market an NFT photograph of the Jeff Koons Moon-phase sculptures in their new home on the Moon.&nbsp;The last manned mission to the Moon was in 1972, and the NASA Artemis mission will put the first woman astronaut, Black astronaut and Canadian astronaut on the surface of the Moon in 2025. However, this year several unmanned projects will touch-down on the lunar surface.&nbsp;Ms Baier said with renewed interest in the Moon it was a good time for non-traditional participants to become involved.&nbsp;“We all accept the idea that space travel is powered by human science and engineering, but humans also express themselves with art, design, media and other forms of entertainment,” she said. “We will now have an art gallery on the Moon, exhibiting Jeff Koons’ work, in perpetuity. Humans rely on technology, but we also define ourselves by aesthetics. It’s important that different aspects of humanity are expressed in space.”&nbsp;Chantelle Baier formed the world’s first female-owned space company, 4SPACE, in 2017 and in June 2021 entered into a collaboration with Intuitive Machines, a then privately held company in its development phase.&nbsp;Ms Baier said 4SPACE was pioneering developmental strategies in space exploration and commercialization, which included non-traditional players such as women, artists and even consumer brands.&nbsp;“I was raised on a farm in Saskatchewan, with limited access to modern comforts. I was inspired by my mother’s questioning of NASA’s expenditure on space programs over families in need, and this perspective has profoundly influenced my approach to the space industry, helping me focus on balancing technological advancement with humanitarian efforts. Our company culture emphasises Science, Sustainability, Philanthropy, Education, and Nurturing Hope for future generations.”&nbsp;The current mission prioritizes green energy, it piggybacks on an existing NASA-funded mission, and creates opportunities for charity fundraising. Notably the Jeff Koons Moon Phases auctions will contribute to Doctors Without Borders and amfAR, an AIDS research foundation.&nbsp;In line with these values, 4SPACE has collaborated with MEDIA.COM, the online network which addresses the profile authenticity and information integrity challenges of other networks, by featuring Chantelle Baier as Profile No.1 on the Media.com network.