The space race is on — but this time
it is entrepreneurs taking the lead. Space is the new hot market.
More so than at any time since the famous Apollo program in the 1960s, there is
an excitement about the possibilities that space offers. Imaging, analytics,
minerals, water extraction, exploration, tourism – these are all emerging
growth segments in the space market. Meanwhile, there are already very solid
and dependable cash flows being produced by the relatively mundane activity of
satellite communications.
Space is a very
particular environment requiring very particular technologies and methods. For
instance, the electronic components used in space are often built differently
to those on Earth – and putting a satellite into orbit is a lot more difficult
than putting up a cellphone mast. Space is also a new market to most. So, in
this article, we lay out some of the basics of the business of space, so that
interested investors can start to understand this new market in some detail
before diving in.
The successful splashdown of the
Dragon capsule — the first private spacecraft to make a trip to the
International Space Station (ISS) — was a major milestone in the entry of
private companies into the business of space exploration.
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