The Rise of Rocket Lab in the Space Economy

The Space Economy, Rocket Lab, & Weekly Activity

The Business Frontier Beyond Earth

Outer space and humans interconnect today more than ever. GPS systems guide you each time you look for that new delicious restaurant in your city. Satellites answer your weather concerns before leaving the house. These invisible-to-the-human-eye devices orbiting our planet continue to play a crucial role in our daily lives. Today, the space economy is rising rapidly from a commercialization standpoint.

However, it never use to be like this though… during the 1960s and 1970s, the US government led the space race and was the primary entity involved in space exploration (they wanted to have their hand in anything and everything space). It wasn’t until the 1980s, that the US government began to encourage private companies to get involved in space exploration by offering contracts for commercial launches and other services. This led to the emergence of companies such as Space Services Inc. and Space Industries Inc., which were among the first private companies to attempt to launch payloads into space. The government has continued to work closely with private and public companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, and Boeing, providing funding, regulatory oversight, and other forms of support to advance space exploration/defense goals. Even though they have shifted their approach on space exploration/defense over the years, they have never completely stopped intervening with private and public companies on this front.

There were no public space exploration companies in the United States before 1980, as private enterprise was not yet involved in space exploration at that time. When the 1990s came around, private space companies began to gain more traction, with the founding of companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin in the early 2000s. These companies have since become major players in the space industry, working alongside government agencies like NASA to advance space exploration and development.

Now today, the space economy is experiencing a period of rapid growth, with new technologies and innovations driving demand for space-related products and services. Some of these new technologies and innovations come from larger industry incumbents like SpaceX and Boeing, but they are now coming full-force from smaller businesses such as Rocket Lab (we will get to them in a moment).

Some areas of the space economy that are particularly promising for companies include: launch services, satellite technology (large/smallsat launches), space tourism, space-based research, and even space mining. The space economy today is worth nearly $400 billion, with satellite TV and government-funded missions being its largest drivers of revenue. Morgan Stanley believes the overall space market will expand to $1 trillion by 2040, and they expect satellite internet will grow from essentially zero revenue in 2016 to $500 billion in 2040.

With ongoing investment and support, the space economy has the potential to become a major driver of economic growth and innovation in the decades to come. The direction we are headed in, it’s going to come… and at a much faster pace than what people expect. Which is why I believe it’s important to emphasize this opportunity in the space economy this week, especially with it still being in its infancy (frankly just scratching the surface). So, lets dive into one of my favorite businesses in this space (pun intended)…