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The 73rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC), the most important space event in the world, opened on Sunday, September 18, in Paris, in the presence of several thousand representatives from all continents. France is hosting the event for the first time and has announced more than 9 billion euros of investment in the space sector over the next three years.
The announcement was made this Sunday by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne: The first strategy “, she said” is to keep independent access to space with Europe “. This access can only be achieved today through international collaboration, but everyone wants to make the most of the game, because the economic stakes are colossal. While NASA is relaunching its program to the Moon, there have never been so many missions to space, which is becoming a new market to conquer. The private sector plays a leading role. In the last 15 years, commercial activity in space has more than tripled to reach $357 billion in 2020. The pandemic has further accelerated the movement and the investment bank Morgan Stanley estimates that the space sector will exceed 1000 billion dollars by 2040.
More accessible entry ticket for the space
Space is no longer reserved for nations alone: new opportunities are emerging, going beyond the aerospace and defense industries. Broadband Internet access via satellite represents 50% of growth projections for 2040 (Morgan Stanley). This technology should make it possible to provide Internet access to certain places that have been little or not served until now. Space has also established itself as an essential means of observing climate change, thanks to satellite data. Future applications in the field of health or infrastructure monitoring will not fail to arouse covetousness, as will the connectivity of objects, which constitutes the real challenge of tomorrow.
The Americans are the first to invest in space, but the Europeans are not left out and neither are the emerging countries: projects are currently being developed in Brazil, South Africa and India.
Many young shoots (start-up) in the front row
Alongside SpaceX, the firm of American billionaire Elon Musk, companies are trying to position themselves in what is called the ” new space ».
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But investing in space requires certain skills in very specific areas: propulsion, new materials, orbital mechanics, space electronics, or artificial intelligence. The European Space Agency has already invested in more than 500 start-ups (start-up) through its business incubation centres. A new economy that will not happen without a strong link with the public authorities who finance many projects.
An uninhibited space market but which is not without raising questions: the possibilities of mining in particular pose a major challenge in terms of regulation. No nation can appropriate a celestial body, it is what is stipulated in the space treaty of 1967 by all the space powers. But the race to the Moon, and to Mars raises the question of the exploitation of extraterrestrial resources. Asteroids will eventually become a profitable source of precious materials such as gold, nickel, cobalt, or even platinum. But water is the resource that everyone is looking for: it will allow future teams to survive in space but will also provide the precious fuel necessary for any commercial enterprise in space.
The United States implemented in 2020 “ the Artemis chords which establish guidelines for the extraction of these resources. These agreements have already been signed by 21 countries. But in reality, the nations and companies that gain first access to mining sites will be the ones that can dominate this new economy of space and the future regulations that come with it.