Most of us are aware of companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Oneweb. We are also aware of Richard Branson's project, Virgin Galactic which seeks to be the first space tourism company.
Much of this is due to the fact that we are seeing a reduction in cost to get into space. This is fueling a massive amount of work being done to fill the skies, especially with satellites.
Elon Musk and SpaceX are leading the charge. They can launch a GTO satellite for $62 million dollars while United Launch Alliance charges an average of $225 million. A decade ago it costs $10,000 a pound to send something in space. In the near future, Musk might get that price tag down to $1,000. That is a 90% drop in price in a decade.
Not only is the cost of launching coming down, but we are seeing major advancements in satellite technology. This means the cost of satellites are also plummeting. One of the areas we see a drastic difference is with microsatellites.
While somewhat limited in their capabilities, they pack a lot more power than satellites did decades ago. This is important since, weather satellites, as an example, are near 30 years old. As they reach the end of their lives, we could end up seeing a rash of smaller satellites put into service.
Here is a company that is focused upon filling the sky with their microsatellites.
This is a very important step forward in the progress of humanity. What happens in space affects us a great deal here on Earth. Today, we use satellites for most everything. As costs drop, we should be able to replace older technology with newer, more advanced systems. We will also see a lot more satellites in our skies.
It is an enormous opportunity for those who seek to profit from it. Most of the companies involved, obviously, are start ups. This excludes the average person. However, as time goes by, we should see the ability to structure these companies in different ways. The natural path is for them to get publicly traded as they grow. We could also see tokenization play a role in these types of endeavors.
Another important note is how things are affected here on Earth in terms of investing. For example, one of the reasons I am so interested in the Starlink project by SpaceX is the simple fact we, in the United States, suffer from communication monopolies. In most areas, there are only one or two companies providing cable and phone service. Starlink should provide a competitive advantage while also being able to offer its service for less money.
Cord cutting is a concern for established media companies. What happens when something like this starts to come online, especially in those areas where the two companies divided up the market? Suddenly, there is the potential for many to jump ship.
The massive downward pressure we are seeing in prices is going to be felt throughout the entire economy. Space is just one example in a long list of things that are feeling the technological effect.
This is going to affect all aspects of life. Give it another couple years and things will be very obvious. We are seeing things progressing too rapidly for it not to be.
If you found this article informative, please give an upvote and resteem.
Posted via Steemleo
