The flagship application of space economy

By George S. Pullen

Every day we interact with the spatial economy. Most of us do it through our phone, our car, the financial markets or our local grocery store. In fact, many argue that the future of the World Wide Web and modern life will be defined by how humanity builds the space economy as a whole. This engine, to define the 5th industrial revolution that is the space economy, has been the reason why, in recent years, we have seen unprecedented increases in commercial space activity. Despite this excitement to boldly go where no woman has gone before, the real question remains: is this revolution in commercial space investment, infrastructure, and growth translating into a vibrant and sustainable space economy? And what needs to happen for the space economy to become a $4 trillion cislunar hub by the 2040s?

We see this develop in the next three buckets.

Government investments

Fundamentally, the biggest driver of space industry activity remains the US government. What can we learn from NOAA, NASA and Space Force spending trends? Let’s start with the numbers, NOAA, NASA, and the Space Force have budgets (less than $7 billion, $25 billion, and $18 billion, respectively) that together add up to less than $50 billion. Despite these advances in government investment in space, these funds don’t even scratch the surface of space.

It should be noted that while we present the space economy from a uniquely American perspective, we are in no way underestimating or underestimating the global nature of the space economy. Generally speaking, we’re optimistic for smaller space agencies, with relatively rudimentary budgets, leveraging decades of research and development (and the availability of payload space and nanosats) to leapfrog countries that have had a significant head start. This is possible because these nations do not have to bear most of the sunk costs of getting into space. From the National Space Research and Development Agency of Nigeria to the Indian Space Research Organization to the United Arab Emirates Space Agency and others, Space Race 2.0 will be a competitive collaboration adapting leapfrog technology. Space Race 2.0 will be a relay race.

Investment in commercial space

Using the past as a prologue, we see that markets have had a mixed reaction to the many space SPACs that have raised over $4 billion in recent years (Astra, Blacksky, Momentus, Redwire, Rocket Lab, etc. ). The “blank check company” investment vehicle has proven so popular among space companies, from launch to satellites, that it seemed like you couldn’t spell space without SPAC last year. However, the space economy is not limited to the companies to which they provide financing and liquidity; it is also a compendium of our social economic conscience. So, in addition to companies making new public debuts, it’s also important to keep in mind the extreme attention that billionaires (Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin, Jared Isaacman’s Inspiration4 and Virgin Galactic of Sir Richard Branson) who castigated themselves and others beyond the 50 mile “space” line received. The total space economy also includes the renewed interest in space tourist flights; which took off with enough additional demand to raise Virgin Galactic’s prices. As well as alternative offerings such as World View’s balloon to space and engaging entrepreneurs and investors through regulatory crowdfunding platforms like SpacedVentures.com. Not to mention the highly anticipated buzz of the Tom Cruise movie and the expanse season 6 is at supernova level within the space enthusiast community.

The Space Killer App

To borrow from the tech industry, the real question is what is the killer app for the space? We see that the demand for space tourism and the increase in spending by Uncle Sam, the European Space Agency and the respective space agencies of Japan, the United Arab Emirates, China, Russia, the India and other space nations don’t get us to $4 Trillion dollar space economy by 2040s. And while risk reduction, safety, infrastructure building and security provided by Space Force and NOAA and NASA science and technology are significant and could result in hundreds of potential spinoffs, we believe the most likely scenario for the Space Killer application is one that comes out of an existing industry which is beginning to use the increased reliability and affordability of space access for a complementary vertical to its current business.

By going through the sectors of the economy that produce the most business activity and have the best chance of continued growth in today’s Fourth Industrial Revolution, we can offer a few prime candidates to participate in and benefit from the space economy. First, fintech companies, second, healthcare, or more specifically biotechnology, third, new energy, and finally, big data that powers machine learning and narrow AI. While each of these has a role to play in the future space economy, it is clear that some of the more near-term benefits can be realized through biotechnology. That’s not to say that more traditional companies focused on launch or satellite communications won’t thrive, or that new entrants targeting space as a manufacturing destination don’t have good prospects either. However, none of these sectors can compete with the ability to unlock immortality in microgravity.

Unlocking immortality in microgravity is the killer app for space saving

That’s why, when we think about the killer application or the space breakthrough, it is clearly in the field of biomedical research and/or biotechnology. Research and development pursued in microgravity focused on anti-aging, protein folding, 3D tissue printing, and new drug discovery each hold the key to billions of dollars in revenue. The biomedical research conducted by NASA’s Centennial Challenge program, the Methuselah Foundation and others is and will continue to inspire top pharmaceutical, biomaterials, bioengineering and biotechnology companies to have their own station. space dedicated to research or to renting space. on one of the many commercial space stations offered (Axiom, Thales Alenia Space, Nanoracks, Voyager Space, Lockheed Martin, Bigelow Aerospace, Blue Origin, Sierra Space and Boeing). It will take one of these healthcare companies patenting a new drug or making a huge breakthrough in artificial organs or gene therapy, which can only be done in microgravity, to spark a biotech space race and giving space economics the killer application humanity has been looking for.

(The author is a Space Economist at Milky Way Economy, a Fifth Industrial Revolution think tank, co-author of Blockchain and the Space Economy, Columbia Summer Program Instructor in Space Commercialization and facilitator of Space Force’s Future of Space Workshops. The views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of Financial express online. Reproduction of this content without permission is prohibited).