The Changing Face of Space Economics - Stuart Martin

"Space is not what it used to be." This might sound like a lament for the golden days of Mercury and Apollo, but actually it refers to an emerging recognition that the space sector is undergoing revolutionary changes that could bring similar dreams to the fore once more. But it's not the Governments and their agencies setting the vision, with their budgets ever more constrained. Increasingly, it is the private sector that is leading the way with commercial businesses, both large and small, finding new ways to capitalize on the technologies developed over the last 60 years, and bringing a whole new class of products and services to the market-both up in space and down here on the ground. With this change comes great opportunity, but it requires new ways of thinking, new financing mechanisms, new supply chains, and new regulatory environments. The recently announced crowd-funded Lunar Mission One is an example of commercial innovation enabling exploration and science. What new models might we see and what will succeed? How can business, government, and science adapt, to the first drive and then capitalize on the economic development of space?