Recently there have been several public launch successes of re-usable space vehicles by SpaceX and Blue Origin, which prompted me to question what is the future of space activity and travel and what opportunity, if any, does this potentially have for manufacturing in the U.S.?
Current Commercial Space Industry
Overall, commercial space activity is already a significant industry. The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) reports that worldwide satellite industry revenues reached $203B in 2014, a 4% increase overall from the prior year – of which satellite manufacturing and ground equipment represented $74.2B in revenues (the remainder is in satellite services and launching).
