Space may not be the final frontier, but it certainly is the next frontier. Companies are starting to develop ways to get their brands in space. Despite newly approved funding to the tune of $20 billion, NASA is already relying on companies like SpaceX to lead new innovation and exploration efforts in space, promoting progress in both space travel and space-based industry—because companies aren’t looking to get into space just for the sake of science; space will soon be open for business.
The privatization of space is rapidly approaching, and brands are not only using space to create new products, but they are also using it to provide new business technology services. On the product side of things, Bayer and Planetary Resources have partnered to use satellite images to develop new agricultural products and improve existing ones. On the business side, the Federal Aviation Administration is starting to talk about creating a virtual lunar marketplace that will serve as a place for traders and companies to organize cargo being sent back and forth between Earth and the European Space Agency’s Moon Village concept. The Cloud Constellation Corporation is getting ready to launch the Space Belt, which is a network of data storage, computing and communication satellites that aim to provide large amounts of cloud storage capabilities by 2025. Putting cloud storage systems in space provides a more secure storage option, away from potentially invasive policies and regulations, since space is presently governed by maritime law.
Those examples are just a small taste of the industrial boom that the privatization of space will create in the coming years, as access to outer space becomes easier and more cost efficient. People, brands, organizations and companies who feel innovation has stalled in the United States could be inspired by this new focus on a commercial outer space. Brands will likely line up to see which ones can get there first, and which ones can make the most impact. SpaceX has truly ushered in a new age in innovation in business. We can all thank the real-life Tony Stark, Elon Musk, for all the exciting new business innovations we are about to experience. Once thought to be just for astronauts, outer space will soon be open for anyone with the gusto to get there.
