Post-Sputnik, the perception of a Pax Americana and pacing Soviet Union gave way to a public view that the Soviets had achieved a step change not just in space. Paranoia set in among American policymakers and the general public awakened to the space age. The New York Times had a rare three-fold headliner story on the Soviets’ successful launch. The “Sputnik crisis” caught the West completely by surprise, clearly dividing history and the Cold War into two separate eras: “pre-Sputnik” and “post-Sputnik.” That word, we think, went to become one of the most famous Russian words in non-Russian tongues and English-language history books. The soccer ball-sized spacecraft was named Sputnik. 4, 1957, the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite into space. What else do you need to know? Well, let’s dive in… MARKET, INDUSTRY AND OTHER DATA Space: A brief history It’s an intellectual exercise unpacking what taking the space industry, broadly speaking, public. So, because we passionately believe in this inflection point thesis, we’ve packaged this new space primer as an S-1. What was once monopolized by superpowers is now being privatized, with companies taking greater share of low-Earth orbit, rocket launches, and more. Payload was founded on the premise that the space industry is at an inflection point. In this essay, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about how we got here and where we’re headed. There’s plenty more where that came from. All the while, the James Webb Space Telescope has been sending back unreal photos of our galaxy and literally letting us travel back billions of years in time.
A wave of multibillion-dollar mergers is sweeping over the legacy satellite sector, with details emerging about two blockbuster deals that are likely to move forward.Three separate launch unicorns–ABL Space Systems, Firefly, and Relativity–are poised to attempt to reach orbit for the first time in the coming weeks and months.The company also just conducted its first static fire test of the gargantuan Super Heavy booster at its Starbase in south Texas. SpaceX is launching its Falcon 9 at a less than weekly rate in 2022 and has refurbished and reflown some of the first-stage boosters in under a month.That same day, Blue Origin launched six people to suborbital space, including YouTuber and Dude Perfect cofounder Coby Cotton (his ticket was crowdfunded by a DAO).Four of the launches were conducted by American companies, one was China’s state-owned aerospace corporation. 4, five separate launchers flew orbital missions in one day. On July 30, a massive Chinese Long March rocket made an uncontrolled reentry (aka tumbled back from orbit to Earth), with debris falling on Malaysia and Indonesia.Just in the last few weeks, we’ve tracked the following in our daily newsletter: We’re living through an age of historic firsts and massive developments, good and bad, that are happening daily in space. Finally, unlike crypto, we actually are going to the Moon. Very soon. Dozens of space unicorns are hitting escape velocity. It doesn’t fly.īut today, dear readers, Payload is temporarily parting with our time-worn tradition in this prospectus summary and we’re going to let the clichés rip.Ī new space age is upon us, characterized by fierce competition between superpowers and startups alike. They do not want to read a half-baked joke that “actually, this is rocket science.” They’ve heard it before. We’re a B2B and B2G publisher writing for the shot-callers of space. Here at Payload, we try to be very judicious and sparing with our use of space clichés. Enjoy the read, let us know what you think, and pass it on to your space-curious family members and friends! TABLE OF CONTENTS In addition, we treated this as an intellectual exercise of “taking space public.” So, the essay is organized like an S-1 form that a company planning an IPO would file with the SEC. We’re trying to get them up to speed on everything going on in space. Our products are aimed at space insiders, but in this essay, we’re writing for a general audience. What you’re about to read is a bit of a departure from our standard fare at Payload. Nearing 150,000 subscribers, Not Boring is primarily authored by Packy McCormick, with editing and research duties fulfilled by Dan McCormick and Rahul Rana. Editor’s note: Payload space cadets Ryan Duffy (managing editor) and Mo Islam (cofounder) originally penned this essay for Not Boring, an uber-popular newsletter on tech, strategy, startups, and investing.
0 kommentar(er)
