Since humankind could throw their heads back and gaze up at the Stars they've been yearning to travel and harness the power of space today with innovations and technology and an unfailing drive to conquer new frontiers we've succeeded beyond our wildest dreams but let's not spend too much time here in the intro and dive in to find out the 7 things you didn't know about the space industry
1. When you talk about the space industry know who the big four are
It's no surprise the fastest-growing technology in the space industry is the satellite industry after all we rely on them for pretty much all of our communications and entertainment needs 77% of all satellite revenue is television based alone the big four refers to the big four companies that are sitting on top of the billion dollar satellite industry they are SES by far one of the most successful with revenues reported at one point seven six billion dollars Intelsat coming in and second with a reported 538 million dollars with eutelsat and Telesat coming in third and fourth but what exactly does it cost to send one satellite up into space estimates range between 50 million and 500 million dollars why such a big discrepancy because getting launched into space is different than getting into orbit SpaceX is a ruling orbitting market right now charging that amount between 50 and 500 million dollars
2. Mining asteroids might be the new natural resource for raw minerals
In October 2018 Japan successfully landed a little robotics Scout on ryugu from Hayabusa to probe to collect samples of the asteroid China had also released plans to capture an asteroid and bring it back to earth in order to exploit it for natural resources it's no secret that Earth's natural resources are thinning at a fast pace and asteroid mining might just make up the deficit for things like gold silver and many other heavy metals for transport back to earth the cost of the Hayabusa to mission was around 260 million dollars and it will not return to Earth with its samples until 2020 but if the resources found can make up for the cost which financial experts agree are on par with traditional mining on earth we may be closer than we think
3. Space tourism is happening
Companies like Blue Origin founded by Amazon creator Jeff Bezos and Virgin Galactic have one goal in mind getting humans to space both companies have had multiple successful rocket launches and are looking to make space travel a part of a new breed of tourism behind you one ticket would cost somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 dollars for a two-hour ride remarkably though 650 people have already signed up with a Virgin Galactic for those tickets the Blue Origin rocket known as the new Shepherd can accommodate six people in comfy reclining seats and even has a capsule at the tip for spectacular views Virgin Galactic was scheduled to start giving rides in the end of 2018 but it looks like Blue Origin might be beating them in the race to space tourism
4. Additive manufacturing is disrupting the space industry
3d printing for the space industry is booming with 1 billion dollars in sales a year of 3d equipment and software NASA has its own 3d printer in the space station affording them the ability to print replacement parts and pieces using heavy-duty polymer rather than metal and the most exciting thing about 3d printing colonization launching people into space is hard enough but getting whole infrastructures up there is next to impossible cue the 3d printing industry it'll be the only way for us to create the living space as we need if we are seriously going to explore the possibility of hotels and even permanent living quarters off of Earth
5. The hospitality and real estate industry are about to boom in space
We can only colonize space if we're prepared to deal with the harsh environment of it commercial and privately held Space Station companies are starting to get the attention of investors looking to create safe environments in space for everything from orbital manufacturing to high-end tourist attractions and development programs without even a model to go on outside of the ISS this industry is looking to generate 37 billion dollars in the next 10 years as companies figure out how to mine from asteroids and the moon the materials will already be in space for construction firms to build with initially some of these companies may launch their high-end hotels from Earth first much like the way the ISS was built as this idea develops and expands it's possible that we could one day have whole cities in space
6. Small satellites bring big bucks
The Indian Space Research Organization or ISRO and Planet a private American company launched 104 satellites into orbit from a single rocket each weighing just five kilograms making it the owner of the largest fleet in orbit 197 total as a result the national geospatial-intelligence agency awarded them a twenty million dollar contract to obtain imagery of earth's land mass every 15 days small satellites also known as small sets the hottest a new product being produced in record numbers around the planet however this technology is not just for taking pretty pictures of the earth it looks like it's also the latest boom in the military industry as satellite capability pairs nicely with missiles
7. The estimated cost of building a rocket is between 500 million and 1.6 billion dollars
It costs over a billion dollars to build a rocket estimates are on the 1.6 billion dollar Range and close to 60 million dollars every time that rocket is launched with such an expensive time-consuming and risky endeavor why are the most powerful companies in the world obsessed with building in space as citizens we might like to believe it's for colonization but the truth is space militarization is on the horizon Vladimir Putin has already boasted about a super rocket capable of carrying missiles that can be launched into space undetected and America and China are quickly trying to catch up with these defense systems while there may never be a space war hopefully at least much like the Cold War there's going to be a lot of building and innovating to see just how far we can go innovation in the rocket industry is happening incredibly quickly with the rise of reusable rockets SpaceX has managed to bring down the cost per rocket to under 100 million dollars which is at least a 5-time improvement in efficiency