/sci/ - Science & Math

>>15366884
> Venture investment in space startups has dropped 50% year-over-year in 2022 to $21.9 billion, according to VC firm Space Capital.

> Despite the startups' struggles, launch demand has soared after sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine cut off access to Russian rockets. Recent failures with Europe's Arianespace's Vega-C rocket have added to demand in the U.S., outstripping the number of available rockets.

> Firefly and Astra have added other business lines to make up for lost revenue, while Relativity has said its 3D printers used in rocket construction will be eventually employed for other products.

>Firefly, which was forced by U.S. officials in 2021 to sever its Ukrainian ties through Noosphere Ventures over national security concerns, counts a lunar lander named Blue Ghost as a "very profitable" line of revenue, Weber said.

>"I know Firefly's management is very proud and vocal about Blue Ghost, but let's hope they can walk the walk without the Ukrainians," Noosphere founder Max Polyakov told Reuters.

>Shared missions to space on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets, a cheaper, so-called rideshare option for satellite companies that helped kill the business case for small rockets, have taken some of that demand, but much of it remains.

>Private plans to deploy mega-constellations, vast swarms of satellites in low-Earth orbit, have also given launch startups hope for future demand.

>"The industry is now behaving as a more rational, capitalistic industry," Erich Fischer, a senior partner at Bain and Co who advises space companies, said. "It's never behaved that way before, ever."

Didn't know blue ghost was a thing, but I don't see how this would be "very profitable"
https://fireflyspace.com/blue-ghost/
155kg is a joke compared to Starship