La Financière de l’Echiquier has just launched Echiquier Space, Europe’s first thematic fund for the space sector. As the space business is set to flourish, investors should consider investing in the sector for the long term. The year 2020 has made it possible to reach the record for the number of orbital launches in the world since the 1990s, the space economy will probably experience a growth of 6 to 8%, or even more ”, during the next decade, underlines George Saffaye, strategist at US asset management giant BNY Mellon IM.
Of particular note is the technological revolution brought about by the private company Space X, which has developed reusable rockets. This technology has inspired many other public and private companies like Blue Origine, the company co-founded by Jeff Bezos. The opening up of space to commercialization, where private and public companies are increasingly involved, has allowed incredible growth. As our dependence on satellites grows, opportunities will also flourish in the maintenance ecosystem: from the supply of materials and equipment to spatial data and analysis.
There is therefore plenty to foresee a bright future for the space industry, and we will take a look at the financial opportunities in this sector:
The revolution in space tourism
Space tourism could focus “on orbital, suborbital and lunar space tourism,” Judge George Saffaye. To date, only Russia has offered this type of service – to the International Space Station (ISS), at a cost of $ 20-25 million per person. However, this practice ended in 2010 due to the need for more crews on board the ISS. “Today, suborbital travel is the goal of several companies, some of whose projects are already well advanced. Costs could reach more than $ 200,000 per passenger and wait times are expected to be around a year from the first flights, ”reports the strategist.
Towards the return of hypersonic flight
The design of new aircraft could see the return of hypersonic flight for regular commercial use. “Although most of these flights ended with the Concorde decommissioning over ten years ago, technologies from design to construction have advanced and issues such as sonic booms in the process have progressed. sound barrier are now resolved. This means that the way is clear for hypersonic flight to transform travel even more: flight times will be reduced and distances considerably reduced ”, underlines George Saffaye.
As we can see, the space market is a source of opportunities for the long-term investor. Still, the values of the sector are often volatile, as we have seen in recent months on a stock such as Virgin Galactic, and that it will be advisable not to overpay the shares of the compartment …
The conquest of Mars
The conquest of Mars is the will to join the red planet. This conquest requires new technological means, new companies are therefore emerging to respond to the problems of such a trip. The space adventure can indeed prove to be very lucrative in several areas.
A new world has colonized
Mars is the perfect example, but there is much more than a single planet that can be colonized, so new businesses will emerge in the colonization of its lands. Space is a huge potential source of raw materials and precious resources. “The surface of the Moon is rich in water, Helium-3 and rare metals. Lunar rocks can also be found there, which may well be the pawn of the diamond industry. “Gifting the moon” would then take on a whole new meaning! Naveen Jain predicted.
All its new industries and new missions are creating companies that you can invest in now. Here is a list of companies in the aerospace sector:
Blue Origin: The company of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, also wants to take boaters into orbit. The capsule-capped rocket, New Shepard, reached space in a flight 107 km above sea level on April 29. Blue Origin hopes to start offering its space cruises in the coming months. Pricing has yet to be announced, however.
Planetary Resources: This American company wants to make space travel more viable by building “space stations” on asteroids. The water in them could be turned into fuel. It would thus be possible for the shuttles to refuel during their journey.
SpaceX: There was a lot of talk about Elon Musk’s company when it launched a Tesla into space last February. But the extra
Boeing: The aviation company has signed a contract with NASA (which it shares with SpaceX) to build “space taxis,” which will be used to drive astronauts to the International Space Station.
Roscosmos: The Russian state-owned company wants to deploy a global Internet network using satellites similar to Facebook’s.
OneSpace: On May 17, OneSpace became the first private Chinese company to launch a rocket. Although its shuttle is much less powerful than SpaceX’s, the company hopes to offer manned flights by 2025.
