A Boom in Private Space Investments
January 26, 2021
Private investment in US companies working in space hit a record $8.9 billion last year, despite expectations that the pandemic would trigger a drop. As analyst Bhavya Lal writes in Issues, recent years have seen a “a profound shift” in the nation’s space enterprise: the privatization of functions previously considered inherently governmental. “This transformation,” she argues, “in addition to providing cost savings and enabling greater innovation, may ultimately push the boundaries of the art-of-the-possible and expand the human footprint in space.”