Space commerce has exploded. Globally, it’s a $330bn-a-year industry, with commercial activities making up more than three quarters of that total value. The business cuts across multiple industries and has been compared to the PC field in the 80s, the Internet in the 90s and the current burgeoning mobile industry. There is also a broad audience that has a renewed interest in space and it is igniting the imagination of a new generation. This interdisciplinary and intergenerational renaissance is the ultimate entrepreneurial dream.
The second edition of The Economist’s Space Summit will reimagine the space economy as we witness the long-established defence industry and government agencies and the emerging ecosystems of entrepreneurs and private capital aiming to learn from one another. This ongoing global dialogue aims to harness the public enthusiasm for space and focuses on the business opportunities that aren’t being fulfilled by traditional institutions.
Who will be financing this collective dream and why? Many new aerospace technologies are highly capital- and labour-intensive, have long development timelines, serve markets that are nascent (if they exist at all) and rely on launch systems that can be slow, expensive and unreliable. Selecting the best investments also demands a level of expertise that is, well, “rocket science”.
We’re going to hear from provocative thinkers, incumbent and challenger chief executives and top academics that are on a dramatic journey to change the world. What are the countless applications that can be developed to feed rocket launches triggering billion dollar markets? What’s the best way to champion the existing interest and energy in the industry? Could the commercial space boom turn out to be a fad that fades in a few years? How can non-space clusters understand and try to join the momentum? And in an industry known as male, pale and stale, what role should women play?
Find out more here.