New on Stake | The Space Race

The Kármán line. 100km above the earth’s surface, this invisible dome represents the boundary between earth and the great unknown.

While Bezos and Branson lead the 21st-century space race, there’s more going on above our heads than we may realise. Commercial space tourism is a perk of the billions being spent to develop rocket and satellite technology needed for our society to function.

Over 5,000 active satellites are currently orbiting the earth. Providing us with cellular services, internet and GPS, monitoring climate and weather patterns, detecting incoming asteroids. As technology advances, our reliance on space increases.

In 2020, a record 1,283 satellites were launched. Just halfway into 2021, that number has already been matched. It’s estimated that the global satellite industry generated US$271b in revenue in 2020. Developing, launching and maintaining space junk is an expensive game.

Here are the latest additions on Stake looking to make the most of it:

Astra Space (ASTR)

Want to launch a satellite? Astra Space is here to help. Based in San Francisco, the company builds rockets to launch satellites into orbit for clients. By removing the need to develop and launch a rocket, nascent companies are able to focus their efforts on what they are launching into space, rather than how it gets there. The company is on a mission to launch a rocket a day.

Telecommunication companies and weather bureaus are the typical clientele.

Park Aerospace Corp (PKE)

“When nobody else wants to do it because it is too difficult, too small or too annoying, sign us up.”

Park Aerospace develops technologies and materials to be used in spacecraft. From the smallest computer circuit boards to the shells of rocket ships and satellites, $PKE works on the hardware needed to keep satellites in space.

Other names in the space for your watchlist:

Virgin Galactic (SPCE)

Richard Branson’s famous space tourism company. $SPCE has ambitions to make commercial space travel as accessible as a holiday to Fiji.

Rocket Lab (RKLB)

Rocket lab is a New Zealand based satellite launch company. You can book a launch right from their website as if it’s an Uber. Since