Over 60 years ago, John Glenn dared the world to think beyond the blue sky when he became the first man to orbit the Earth. The achievement was the culmination of decades of experiments and forced the world to truly rethink of space as “The Final Frontier.”
In the following decades, advances in technology would make space travel accessible to anyone who had the money and interest. From Jeff Bezos’ trip to space, to SpaceX launching a Tesla into orbit, the world beyond our skies has recently inspired more jokes than curiosity.
Despite that, the great beyond still offers plenty of financial opportunity. With only 11 countries out of over 160 developing rockets powerful enough to breach the skies and the price of launching satellites and other cargo into space dropping to around $1,200 per pound, the development of the space economy presents many more practical applications than billionaires going to space.
Although Richard Branson and Elon Musk have proven the case for space tourism, your institution and clients should have space technology on their radar as the next major investment opportunity. From astropharmacies to global connectivity, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the wild blue yonder.
Internet connectivity through satellite constellations is a rapidly growing space, especially in the travel sector. Companies like Gogo, Panasonic, and Viasat battled for home and corporate customers, promising to offer the fastest connection speeds in remote parts of the world and in the sky. SpaceX is now expanding into the arena as well, signing on Hawaiian Airlines as their first partner in their Starlink internet connectivity service.
In the coming years, demand for satellite internet connectivity is expected to grow as technology continues to advance. As more cultures get plugged into the global culture of the internet, the need for high-speed access around the world will only increase. Getting in front of this technology early could turn into profits in the near future.
In September 1983, then-President Ronald Reagan opened up the U.S. military Navstar GPS system for civilian use, after the Korean Air Flight 007 incident. Since then, GPS connectivity has been added to nearly every part of our lives, ranging from car navigation systems to cell phones. Moreover, six government organizations have launched their own versions of global navigation satellites into space, further expanding the availability of way-finding with technology.
Between the expanded availability of global navigation satellites and the reduced cost of launching and operating satellites, the day may come when GPS is replaced by privately-held technology. Tracking this developmental area now can help you get ahead of the changes and setup for a smart money play in the future.
There was a time when governments and major media corporations controlled audio and video feeds on satellites. While this allowed for breaking news to spread in minutes instead of days, it also limited how the story was told and what was ultimately shared with the public.
But just as the spread of the internet has decentralized finance with cryptocurrency, stronger interconnectivity has decentralized media. The world saw this firsthand with the “Arab Spring” uprising in 2010, and more recently in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict. Companies who can reliably provide windows of access through satellite-as-a-service will ultimately set the pace for leaders to follow, rewarding early investors with returns over time.
Healthcare and pharmaceuticals have come a long way in the past 60 years, but are still susceptible to instability through the manufacturing process on Earth. In 2020, NASA began experimenting with the idea of an “astropharmacy” as a way to create more stable biopharmaceutical drugs — particularly peptide and protein-based drugs — for explorers on the planet and in deep space.
Although the idea of using bacteria spores to “grow” more stable biopharma drugs is still years away, research is being conducted now to make it a reality. Pharmaceutical companies are actively working with NASA and research universities to bring the first pharmacies to space.
Military organizations were the first to explore applications for space, and develop them as a means of global peacekeeping. For example: U.S. military forces near Ukraine are using intelligence-gathering tools such as satellite imagery and unmanned aircraft to “collect” intelligence, which is then passed forward to the Ukranian military through liaisons. Although the data is not in real-time, the information allows the local army to better fight off Russian aggressors.
As warfare and weaponry becomes even more dependent on technology, governments will rely on aerospace giants to provide the advancements to prevent global conflicts. Boeing, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon all had hands in providing many of the technologies we rely on today, and could be among the players helping the next generation of defense technologies to get into orbit.
Although we know more about space than we ever did, there’s still much more exploration left to do. From helping those on the planet to live healthier, more connected lives, to preparing the next generation of astronauts to stay safer, tracking and staking in space technology companies now can help investors drive results as we boldly go where no one has gone before.
Do your customers and clients have access to the tools and research to help them find the next opportunities in space? Unifimoney is your turnkey investing-as-a-service tool, giving your partners the insight they need to keep up with our rapidly evolving world. Contact us today to get started on a conversation about how your institution can provide competitive services for current and future clients.
The above does NOT constitute an offer, solicitation of an offer, nor advice to buy or sell specific securities. The opinions listed above are not the opinions of Unifimoney Inc. or Unifimoney RIA, Inc. but represent the opinions of independent contributors. These contributors may or may not hold positions in the stocks discussed. Investors should always independently research any stocks listed and form their own opinions, while recognizing that any investments made may lose value, are not bank guaranteed and are not FDIC insured.
