The evolution of the internet from a government-exclusive property to a global tool responsible for millions of jobs will be mirrored by the future development of the commercial space industry, according a leading expert within the field.

Speaking during a Google Hangout hosted by the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, Mike Gold, director of DC operations and business growth at expandable space habitat manufacturers Bigelow Aerospace said that the recently passed US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act was a key moment in the history of the field.

“This is when science fiction becomes reality. This is when those dreams that everyone had as children can actually come to fruition,” said Gold in the hangout between major commercial space industry partners and a senior White House official.

“The path is not going to be easy – I think we’re still going to have a number of challenges ahead of us, but I do see what happened to the internet happening in the space world. There was a time when ARPANET – the internet – was only used by a few people in government, and look what it became, relative to entrepreneurialism, relative to jobs etc.

“We’re just starting to see that happen in the space world, beginning perhaps with cubesats, small sats, and then moving to human spaceflight.”

Other participants in the discussion echoed Gold’s comments, highlighting the importance of the bill for the industry.

“Make no mistake whatsoever: you are witnessing an extraordinary point in human history,” said Peter Marquez, VP for global engagement at asteroid mining company Planetary Resources. “This law and where we are with industry is the beginning of a permanent human presence in space, and also unlocking resources for all of humanity across the globe to utilize.

“This is it: we can look back at this growth trend, at this moment in time as being the beginning of when humanity moved forward and mankind moved forward into their exploration.”

For Gold, at the centre of this transformation was the ability to make money out of space, something that he argued would be primary driving force for the industry’s development.

“It’s that transition to actually making money in space and being financially viable that’s so important,” he said. “NASA talks a lot about education and STEM, and for getting people into aerospace engineering. You never really hear that in the IT sector – you don’t have to encourage people to go into computers and IT and the internet. Why? Because there’s money to be made.

“Money is better than rocket fuel: that’s what we need to get this industry going. This bill was a great step in that direction that will let the government to do even more. What we want out of NASA is to push the envelope of exploration, do what we in the private sector wouldn’t or couldn’t do.

“By the private sector moving out into LEO and into cis-lunar space, that will allow to do what NASA should be doing, relative to taking science fiction and making it real.”