The chairmen of space companies expect a decrease in the pace of development in the coming years. The reasons for this lie outside the industry. However, not everyone shares pessimism on this score.
Private space will be affected by global economic factors
On May 25, during a panel discussion at the Space Tech Expo, Rocket Lab Vice President Lars Hoffman warned about the danger of lowering the growth rate of the industry. According to him, it is not at all protected from economic factors beyond its borders: disruption of supply chains, inflation and fears of recession.
According to him, over the past years, despite the coronavirus pandemic, the industry has “warmed up” financially. And now he is inevitably waiting for “cooling”. Therefore, investors will not rush to invest in space technologies in the next year or two.
Last year was marked by the mass entry into the public space of many space companies due to the SPAC procedure. However, now the shares of most of these enterprises are worth much less than a few months ago. Concerns that many of them will turn out to be soap bubbles are growing.
What can overcome pessimism
It is worth noting that Rocket Lab was among the companies that jumped into the space services market last year. And now, despite all the successes, its shares on the market are worth less than half of their initial value. Against the background of disappointing results of the activities of many space companies in the first quarter of 2022, all this looks quite threatening.
However, not everyone shares Hoffman’s pessimism. For example, the CEO of Launcher Max Haot said before this that he was not dramatizing the situation on the market. According to him, the war in Ukraine has shown the importance of space infrastructure and now it is of strategic interest to all states.
Unpleasant things are really happening in the global economy. But the demand for the services of private space companies will continue. Therefore, investors do not need to run away anywhere. If a financial storm is coming, then the space industry is exactly the place where it can be waited out.
According to spacenews.com
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