At the Dawn of Artemis, Business Opportunities Proliferate Between Earth and the Moon

NASA is returning to the Moon, and the world is watching. The much-anticipated Space Launch System (SLS) successfully launched its maiden flight at 1:47 a.m. ET on Nov. 16, 2022. The Artemis 1 mission sent NASA’s uncrewed Orion spacecraft into lunar orbit and back, to test systems in anticipation of crewed missions later this decade.

To be sure, the SLS is not without its detractors pointing to numerous delays and costs, but the modern Moon endeavors are not just about the rockets. When we look at the big picture of today’s space activities, NASA’s 21st century Moon program is an enormous catalyst for investment and business opportunities in the space ecosystem.

This moment in space is different from decades ago. There was a time when only a few governments held access to and dominion in space. In the United States and a few other places, space supply chains and contractors marched to the beat of government plans and missions. Today, 90 countries are operating in space, each taking a different approach to accessing the opportunities space affords. And it is not just nations taking part. The space economy is open to businesses across nearly every industry. There is technology innovation, commercial investment, and real momentum behind private companies charting their own path to Earth’s orbit and beyond — and reaping the economic rewards that result.

Capitalizing on Space Adjacency

Today’s value and tomorrow’s projections, however, are not based solely or even primarily on rockets and satellites. An important concept in this new era of space access is the idea of “space adjacency.”

The global space economy was valued at $469 billion in 2021, according to The Space Report. This is nearly halfway to the expected $1 trillion valuation in the coming years. Today’s value and tomorrow’s projections, however, are not based solely or even primarily on rockets and satellites. An important concept in this new era of space access is the idea of “space adjacency.” There are secondary and tertiary markets that are perhaps not obviously related to space but are nevertheless essential for the future of this fast-growing, multidimensional market.

To get a sense of the scale of the opportunity, consider the demand for goods and services created by the global trend toward space activity between Earth and the Moon, what is called “cislunar space.” More than 20 nations have committed to the Artemis Accords, which is a framework for how countries and businesses will cooperate for the peaceful exploration of cislunar space and beyond. As such, international competition will now extend beyond our planet, which will be transformative for our societies and our economies.

For long-term operations, lunar access requires infrastructure and supply chains that reach from the manufacturing plant floor to the communication technologies in lunar outposts — and everything in between. This is where there is a wealth of opportunity for space-adjacent companies that can build technologies to support space activities.

Part of the opportunity comes in the form of business collaboration. For example, Lunar Outpost is a robotics company specializing in machines used on the Moon and in extreme environments on Earth. In 2021, Lunar Outpost joined up with Nokia’s LTE/4G Tipping Point project for NASA, in collaboration with Intuitive Machines, which has built a commercial lunar lander. The project will explore whether Nokia’s technology can work for communications during lunar missions and spaceflight. Thus, a robotics company is working with a telecommunications company to connect a private lander that will supply lunar surface access for experiments and other activities. The space value chain brings together enterprises that otherwise might not have a commercial reason to collaborate and build new things.

In another example, the Colorado business Advanced Space is freely sharing data from its spacecraft pathfinder CAPSTONE mission (supported by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate) with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to contribute to the U.S. Space Force’s cislunar space domain awareness. CAPSTONE was launched on Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft from the New Zealand Rocket Lab Launch Complex, which is a hub for space activity and workforce development. Think of all the materials and services supplied by businesses of many sizes that make this kind of endeavor possible.

There are numerous examples of space collaboration emerging around the world. Going to the Moon creates business opportunity — for those who know how to find it.

Bringing the Rewards Back to Earth

In cislunar space, the private sector isn’t short on opportunity, and with a bit more imagination, there are thousands, even tens of thousands of companies that can seize it as a companion to their more terrestrial business applications. The idea is not necessarily to become a space-only enterprise but instead to think creatively and strategically about how off-world business can have cascading benefits for revenue on Earth.

Businesses may already have products or services to offer in terrestrial markets that can be adapted or repurposed for demand by space-focused companies. At the same time, companies may explore how intellectual property developed to support lunar missions, experiments, data analysis and more can be sold in Earthly markets. In this, selling to space organizations actually funds innovation. Meanwhile, NASA and other space agencies have thousands of technology patents that are just waiting to be commercialized.

To access these opportunities, entrepreneurs should begin monitoring technologies and trends in planned space endeavors. This means tracking commercial investments by private sector space enterprises as well as scouring public sector space budgets to see where funding is being directed. In the United States, that includes not just NASA but also the U.S. Space Force. By seeing where money is flowing, businesses can develop strategies for sales, product development, market positioning, and of course branding. Selling products and services for space has a compelling allure in marketing and advertising.

The space ecosystem holds a wealth of game-changing opportunities. The next step is for entrepreneurs, innovators and business leaders to dig into the space markets, consult with industry analysts and organizations that operate in this sector, and determine how to access those opportunities. When the SLS eventually rocketed away from the Kennedy Space Center with 8.8 million pounds of thrust, it signaled the official beginning of a new era in cislunar space. Those who go along for the ride won’t just be astronauts but also every organization that made it possible and accessed new opportunity in the process.

Kelli Kedis Ogborn is the vice president of Space Commerce and Entrepreneurship at Space Foundation, a nonprofit advocate organization founded in 1983, offering a gateway to information, education and collaboration for space exploration and space-to-Earth industries that define the global space ecosystem.