Private space investment hits all-time high

Research by New York-based firm Space Capital showed that space infrastructure companies got billions of dollars in private investment in 2021. The funds grew by more than 50% from the previous year to a record $14.5 billion.

After a historic third quarter for human spaceflight, the fourth quarter brought in $4.3 billion thanks to “mega-rounds” of $250 million or more by Sierra Space, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and Planet Labs.

In total, Space Capital tracked 1,694 companies that have raised nearly $253 billion in cumulative global equity investments since 2012 across the three space categories – infrastructure, distribution, and application. 

“As we look ahead, we see tremendous opportunities to scale mass adoption of the existing infrastructure as we look for radically new approaches to build and operate space-based assets,” said Space Capital’s managing partner, Chad Anderson.

According to the report, space-related companies received $17.1 billion in venture capital last year, which made up 3% of total global venture capital investment in 2021.

“It’s important for investors to realize that investment in the space economy requires specialist expertise. We believe this will become more apparent in 2022 as some of these overvalued companies come back down to Earth and the quality companies rise above,” Anderson said.

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