Dylan Taylor, Chairman & CEO, Voyager Space Holdings.
Expansion is a timeless and crucial part of modern business, and today, that fact has grown to include space. An increasing number of industries worldwide are now looking to space for commercial ventures, augmenting their existing infrastructure and offerings through this ambitious new medium. Practical applications in this regard are widespread, but several industries are already embracing space for commerce-related matters. Based on my experience in the space exploration technology industry, here are three sectors that are showing the greatest levels of interest.
1. Tourism
Perhaps the most noteworthy industry within space commerce is tourism—specifically, that pertaining to the rising subsector of commercial space tourism. As more private clients become interested in space travel as a strictly experiential, leisure-oriented investment, this sector has exemplified the notion of nongovernmental yet commercially viable space business. If you are a leader in the tourism industry, you may want to consider preparing to integrate the ever-evolving space tourism infrastructure into your existing framework. This process may include assessing rapidly changing market sentiments and subsequent partnership opportunities with leading commercial space entities, which can help ensure a more well-rounded and fluid implementation process that can ultimately become more dynamic for consumers as space travel becomes a more viable, accessible reality.
For now, such voyages have remained a fairly exclusive offering, but the sector’s rapid growth suggests future opportunities for more individuals to experience space, and with this comes more implications for investment within space tourism and its adjacent industries. One recent example is an ongoing collaboration between Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Axiom in utilizing AWS Snowcone, a revolutionary computing and storage device integrated with the International Space Station (ISS). This initiative demonstrates the tourism industry’s involvement in space commerce by enabling high-level computing and data transfer while mitigating latency and limited bandwidth—all of which can bolster a stronger, more seamless communication network amid parallel commerce-related advancements.
2. Engineering
A cornerstone of all space infrastructure, the engineering field is invaluable for establishing and maintaining a functional space economy. Today’s engineers are responsible for conceptualizing, designing and integrating the technological systems necessary for space’s ongoing commercialization—propulsion systems, advanced satellites, reusable rockets and countless other resources that enable a more diverse involvement in space. In turn, these advancements present transformative potential for engineering at large, allowing the sector to help shepherd in a new age of comprehensive, more affordable space infrastructure—but only if it is willing to remain both urgent and forward-thinking. For leaders in the industry, I recommend dividing your focus between progressive research and development initiatives, ongoing dialogues related to aerospace regulation and protocol, and high-level technological risk assessment to bolster both engineering prowess and lasting well-being for future fliers.
Beyond technology, engineers have helped facilitate crucial collaborations and partnerships that fortify space commerce’s dynamic framework. As more private companies invest in space exploration and commercial tourism, engineers are at the heart of many of the initiatives to reduce related costs and increase both safety and reliability, channeling these values into new projects supporting economic activity. By actualizing the hardware to make these aspirations a reality, engineers can help carve a clearer path for a fluid capital allocation and new economic opportunity.
3. Telecom And Data Transfer
The future of telecom and the future of space are now inextricably linked, evident in our growing satellite communication networks and increasingly space-rooted communication methods on Earth. It seems natural that this sector’s growth will eventually transcend planetary communication and warrant stronger, more reliable telecom systems in space—another foundational asset to a viable space economy.
For space commerce to reach fruition, telecom and data transfer must be sound to support a wider spectrum of transactions and related communications. However, advanced digital communication solutions also stand to augment peripheral technological processes, as displayed by entities like Orbit Fab, which is working to make remote, geosynchronous satellite refueling a commercial reality. Such advancements could lead to positive, lasting change via diligence within the present telecom and data transfer landscape, especially if industry leaders commit to multifaceted expertise in collecting, analyzing and implementing satellite data and using it as a foundation for insightful and safe decision-making. Telecom leaders can also tackle ongoing challenges related to space data processing and ever-changing regulatory compliance measures—both of which could define space communication and data discussion for years to come.
Like many sectors rooted in research and exploration, space could be one of the most prevailing and potentially disruptive domains of modern times. I believe the increased participation of our largest industries in such activity can help elevate present advancements to greater heights and fully realize economic concepts previously thought impossible.
Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Read the full article here
