Space economy: rocket fuel
The cost of getting into orbit are going down while the profit potential is going up
The commercialisation of human space flight has reinvigorated US plans for space exploration. First the International Space Station, then the Moon. One day, perhaps, Mars.
Planned missions have been delayed but SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, launched on a Falcon 9 rocket, should become the first privately owned vehicle to take Nasa astronauts to the ISS this week. Boeing is expected to be about a year behind.
A sustainable commercial market for space travel could fund future exploration. In the past decade the price tag for reaching low Earth orbit cost has declined by a factor of 20, according to research analysts at Nasa. NASA’s space shuttle cost about $54,500 per kg to reach low Earth orbit. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 advertises a cost of $2,720 per kg. Launch costs to reach the ISS have declined by a factor of 4.
There are cheaper ways to leave gravity behind. It costs about $12,000 to take a ride in a Russian MiG-29 jet and see the curvature of the Earth. Spanish company Zero 2 Infinity claims it will launch a stratosphere travel programme next year that will take tourists 32 kilometres above the Earth in a specially designed balloon for €125,000. Those who want to go further can expect to spend millions.
But shuttling people between space and Earth is not where SpaceX expects to make most of its money. Valued at $36bn, according to PitchBook data, the company’s profits are expected to come from satellites that beam wireless broadband services around the world. In the $360bn global space economy, broadband satellites is the fastest growing sector according to data from the Satellite Industry Association. What is a $2bn market today could reach $95bn within the next two decades.