Space Gets Attention From Budding Entrepreneurs

MIT graduate Eric Ward landed internships at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and NASA, wishing that he could have a career life at any of these well-established space companies. Over the last decade, he has witnessed budding companies like Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX enter the space game.

High-profile companies' success has inspired a number of "astropreneurs" to take chances at starting their very own space company. NewSpace Global, a team that tracks private space industries, for instance, has seen tremendous market growth. In the recent five years, the figures have gone to more than a thousand from just 125 companies.

Ward wanted to be a part of the new space startups breed. In 2015, while finishing a MIT diploma for systems design and management, he was also into designing a rocket, which will be able to send small satellites to orbit. With an aim of securing a funding, he is presently finishing a business plan.

The MIT graduate's planned startup will be capitalizing on small satellites.

Small satellites initially gained fame in the last decade, when Stanford and Cal Poly universities encouraged students to make their own CubeSats, which are mini satellites that weighed three pounds the most. These structures will go into space to observe Earth, launch amateur radio stations, and collect scientific information. CubeSats were selected on space missions to piggyback and presently, NASA has 50 CubeSats set to launch, according to a feature by the Inc.

Startups, through the years, are discovering more uses for mini-satellites. When Google acquired Skybox two years ago, the company was able to use CubeSats in providing high-resolution videos and images of the earth, according to a feature by The Wall Street Journal. Also, Mark Zuckerberg's aim of bringing global affordable Internet will depend on the same satellite technology.

Lisa Porter, a former NASA and DARPA executive, said that the industry is now unfolding its third chapter. Rocket Labs, is one proof of it. These facilities have managed to come up with a vehicle that will reduce the cost of sending space rockets. With its use, the cost will be 95 percent less than the current expenses.