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The space industry's journey #ToTheMoon
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The Big Story
“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
These words were uttered by American astronaut Neil Armstrong when he took his first steps on the moon in 1969. That single iconic moment in history set the precedent for humanity's attempt and its ever-growing desire to search the cosmos and investigate what's out there.
While most of the space exploration conducted so far were either low-Earth orbit missions or unmanned scientific exploration, technological advances accompanied by heavy investments in the sector has renewed the interest of private firms who want to get in on the space boom.
Two months ago, when Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos made their respective journeys to space, they announced some big space plans which invited more public attention to the industry. And while the coronavirus pandemic continued to devastate global economies, the space industry did surprisingly well.
A Space Capital report found that private investments in space companies rose to a record high of $8.9 billion last year, almost double the amount invested two years ago. What's more, the total investment in the space sector rose to $25.6 billion—the third highest in the decade. These were mainly in three segments: Infrastructure, Application, and Distribution.
Space start-ups in almost every sector in the industry now have access to millions of investor money. Take satellite internet firm Astranis, for example, which closed a $280 million deal in April. Or even Axiom Space, which raised $130 million in February to build the first commercial space station. In fact, the space boom has reached a level where it has completely reversed the markets as start-ups are getting calls from investors.
But where did this sudden demand come from? Two reasons for it:
Analytical abilities intensified by artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and machine learning have increased the demand for start-ups like Planet, which deploys satellites that image the Earth every day.
Tech advancements have made it affordable for private firms to develop space tech and launch their products into space. Instead of sending one big satellite with expensive space-specific technology, companies can deploy small satellites by simply hitching a ride on a rocket.
Firms like Astra are offering small, more frequent launches to space in hopes of positioning themselves as the space industry's equivalent of cloud computing tech. The 2016-founded start-up already has 50 launches under contract, including for Planet and NASA, and has scheduled its first launch with a payload for this summer. It's competing with SpaceX, which plans to deploy similar tech next year.
But the boom is only going to grow stronger.
As per Morgan Stanley's estimates, space will be a $1 trillion industry by 2040, up from $350 billion in 2020, mainly driven by increased demand for video, artificial intelligence, autonomous cars, the Internet of things, virtual reality. Additionally, as SpaceX develops its reusable boosters, eg. Falcon 9 rockets, the cost of launching satellites to space would decline from $60 million to $5 million. It could also reduce satellite mass production costs from $500 million per satellite to just $500,000.
While we've come really far as a species, there's still a long way to go. And as government organizations and big tech all over the globe continue to heavily invest in the industry, the amount of progress we can accomplish together is unimaginable. The sky is literally the limit.
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