[HN Gopher] Tracking space debris is a growing business
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       Tracking space debris is a growing business
        
       Author : martincmartin
       Score  : 32 points
       Date   : 2021-09-16 19:27 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.economist.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.economist.com)
        
       | jgwil2 wrote:
       | Related discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28523946
        
       | oblak wrote:
       | Alright, any companies that are likely to go public and make some
       | money?
        
       | shoto_io wrote:
       | This seems to be a similar trend like VC-backed "Deep Sea"
       | startups exploring the unchartered oceans floor. Does anyone know
       | how these space and marine startups are planning to make money?
        
         | burkaman wrote:
         | > LeoLabs sells data to satellite operators, space agencies,
         | America's armed forces and insurers keen to calculate better
         | actuarial tables for spacecraft.
         | 
         | > Customers include insurers keen to see if policyholders fly
         | their satellites as safely as they claim to.
         | 
         | > Northstar, for example, plans to charge annual subscriptions
         | of between $10m and $100m.
         | 
         | > Naturally, this orbital-tracking technology has military
         | value as well.
         | 
         | I think most of these companies are assuming they can get big
         | government contracts once this becomes a big enough problem.
         | Lockheed Martin has Space Fence
         | (https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/space-
         | fence.ht...) which was presumably funded by a government
         | contract
        
           | twelve40 wrote:
           | since OP asked specifically about VC-backed (and not
           | bootstrapped or a lifestyle government consultancy), i guess
           | the question is they must have at least pitched a $1bn+ TAM,
           | no? in which case even having a couple of $100m contracts,
           | even when it does miracles for lifestyle, would not be
           | enough. Caveat, don't know much about this, just intuitively
           | it doesn't seem like a VC hypergrowth story?
        
         | paxys wrote:
         | For space at least I think the question is as broad as "how
         | will an internet company make money."
         | 
         | There are limitless applications in satellite launch and
         | operation, debris tracking, asteroid mining, defense, research
         | contracts, tourism.
        
       | visviva wrote:
       | https://archive.is/uL5Sb
        
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