My impression is that – outside of the industry – when most people hear “space,” or think about “investing in space” for that matter, it comes with connotations of science, exploration, astronauts, and maybe some Hollywood-corrupted-visuals of alternative Space Shuttles.
But the reality is that space has been what the Pentagon calls a “warfighting domain” from the very start. The first orbital rockets, satellites, and even the Apollo architecture were born of the military and its aerospace contractors. The U.S. Space Force, which has been around for less than five years, already has a bigger annual budget than NASA, even though the latter is old enough to be the Space Force’s grandfather and holds a coveted position as one of the most beloved federal agencies.
Even among the NASA corps, you’re as likely to find “combat flight hours logged” among the astronauts’ resumes as anything else.
Historically, the biggest defense contractors have long been the winners of the largest space contracts – and that’s still true today. SpaceX has earned a coveted spot in that role for the military, whether it’s launching rockets for Space Force or building satellites for the NRO.
The top pure-play space companies get a significant, if not majority, amount of revenue from military work under contracts from the U.S. and its allies. And often, these military space deals represent “we made it” moments for companies – a point Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck made to me earlier this year when his company got a seat in the $10 billion PWSA Sweepstakes.
“This is really our foray into the world of being a [defense] prime … it basically doubles the company’s backlog overnight with one contract,” Beck told me at the time.
And the importance of military contracts is also going further upstream, as venture capital looks more explicitly toward startups that are winning and delivering on early military deals.
Global conflicts like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or the brewing tensions of China and Taiwan, further highlight the importance of space-based capabilities to the world’s militaries – whether that’s the U.S. or its adversaries.
So as you tuck into some hotdogs tomorrow and look to the sky for your local fireworks, it’s worth recognizing why what’s above is so important to the military for what’s down here – and that includes seemingly unrelated parts of space, like private space stations or going back to the moon.
Daisy Hips is a science communicator who brings the wonders of the natural world to readers. Her articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to environmental conservation. Daisy is also an advocate for science education and enjoys stargazing in her spare time.
