LAS VEGAS–Jonathan Peachey used to send people to space. Now he's sending kids to the playground.

Peachey is now the CEO of Filip, a company making kids' locator-phone watches. He came to Filip from the Virgin Group, where he helped operate Virgin America and Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's ambitious commercial-spaceflight venture.

The Filip is a much humbler technology than commercial spaceflight, but it could change lives much sooner. A combination GPS tracker and phone built into a digital watch, it gives parents the confidence to let their 5- to 9-year-olds roam just a little bit further than they would otherwise. CES 2014 Bug I tested it with my 7-year-old daughter, and while I found Filip to cost more than I'd prefer, it made me a lot less paranoid on the playground.

What could bring a spaceflight pioneer down to earth? I sat down with Peachey for a few minutes at CES 2014 and got his views on what sort of tech little kids should be using, and whether we should keep dreaming of the stars. Check it out in the video below, and be sure to watch our "5 Questions" with Hermann Eul, Intel's mobile chief, Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside, Suneet Singh Tuli, maker of the $38 tablet, ARM CTO Mike Muller, and Asus Chairman Jonney Shih.