Considering the capital required to enter into any business set up in space, space has traditionally had a high barrier to entry. As of January 2020, just seven firms make up 75% of the industry, according to Scott Campbell, director at Deloitte Ventures.
The space industry is worth $380bn (£285bn), and 60% of that is commercial. But previously, virtually all investment into space was by governments
Such figures are definitely attractive to those who have the financial muscle to wrestle it out and claim space real estate. The first real shift came in 2011 when US President Barack Obama opened up space to businesses, and now more disruption is coming.
“The new space race and start-up scene is almost entirely based around space applications: what can I do with data from space?” says Mr Campbell.
Fast forward to 2021 billionaires are racing for ‘real estate’ in space. Elon Musk, through SpaceX has been the front runner in this race having launched Starlink . Elon Musk became the world’s richest person this month by upending the global auto industry and disrupting aerospace heavy weights with reusable rockets. Now he’s setting his sights on another business dominated by entrenched incumbents: telecommunications.
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation being constructed by SpaceX providing satellite Internet access. The constellation will consist of thousands of mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit, working in combination with ground transceivers.
Jeff Bezos, the second richest man on earth, through Amazon is playing second fiddle getting regulatory approval to create Kuiper Systems, a planned fleet or constellation of 3,236 of internet-beaming satellites. He founded Amazon in 1995.
Hitting the ground running in 2021, Sir Richard Branson earlier this month lofted 10 payloads on the Virgin Orbit rocket, which was launched from under the wing of one of the entrepreneur’s old 747 jumbos. Sir Richard is hoping to tap into what is a growing market for small, lower-cost satellites.
Musk’s SpaceX has launched more than 1,000 satellites for its Starlink internet service and is signing up early customers in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. SpaceX has told investors that Starlink is angling for a piece of a $1 trillion market made up of in-flight internet, maritime services, demand in China and India — and rural customers.
For months, SpaceX has been launching Starlink satellites on its Falcon 9 rockets in batches of 60 at a time, and the 17th Starlink launch was on Jan. 20. There are now roughly 960 functioning satellites in orbit, heralding an age of mega-constellations that have prompted worries about visual pollution for astronomers.
Late last year Microsoft announced it was teaming up with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Their partnership, Azure Space, plans to combine Microsoft’s cloud computing services with a global network of satellites.
Elon Musk came after Amazon in a tweet on Tuesday, accusing it of trying to “hamstring” his aerospace company, SpaceX. SpaceX and Amazon both have satellite projects for high-speed internet: Starlink for SpaceX and Kuiper Systems for Amazon.
Musk’s company is trying to convince the Federal Communications Commission to allow it to bring some of its Starlink satellites to lower altitudes than originally planned. Other companies, including Amazon, have protested the request, saying the move would interfere with their own satellite launches.
In a subsequent announcement by Amazon on Thursday, the company pledged to invest “more than $10 billion” in its effort to provide “reliable, affordable broadband service to unserved and underserved communities around the world.”