Rockets and Satellites

There are many sectors within the space industry and some that you may not even think of. Everyone automatically thinks of the most popular ones: rockets and satellites. There are plenty of other industries that are growing and supporting the space industry as well, such as automation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and robotics.

The rocket sector is often the most talked about and for good reason. Without the advancement of rocket technology, then the rest is moot. As discussed in a previous article, the cost of sending rockets with payloads has significantly decreased. This sector still has plenty of room for growth as we continue to develop more efficient rockets. You will start to hear of larger rockets that will be able to go much further faster.

The largest of the sectors, however, is satellites. You can clearly see that commercial satellite ownership is growing quickly representing over 62% of today’s total satellite ownership compared to 25% just 20 years ago.

From an investment perspective, commercial satellites are where we will most likely see continued growth over the next decade. As society moves to even more connected world, we will have the need for more effective and efficient communications systems.

The U.S. is the dominant player in both the rocket and satellite sectors accounting for more than 50% of all active satellites today. The closest competitor is China accounting for approximately 12% of today’s satellites. We will most likely see greater investment opportunities in the U.S., as U.S. government agencies and American companies provide more advanced systems. At this time the U.S. is the dominant player with reusable rockets. (Reports show that China launched its first reusable experimental spacecraft in late 2020.) Think of the advantage that will be and where you would feel most comfortable investing your money.

With all these satellites in orbit we will also have many that will fail or just break down over time. An entire new industry is being created because of this. We often think about all the waste we produce on earth, but what about in space? We will focus on this area in the next article: Environmental impacts and benefits of space.

Access our previous articles on the space industry:

Investing in Space

The Future of Space