Cutting Down On the Cost of Space Travel

Finding Cost-Efficiencies in Space Travel

Space has been and continues to be a hotbed for investment by government, private, and commercial entities. The history of GPS technology provides a roadmap for how technologies realized at a global scale in space can become transformative. The capability to broadly distribute data across large distances, specifically through the development of new layers of technology on space-based infrastructures, provides an opportunity for many new and unique applications.

To underscore just how much interest there really is in space, we can look at the $109.2Billion in cumulative equity investments across over 800 unique companies since 2004. Even with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was over $5.4Billion in total investments made across 36 unique companies in just Q1 of 2020.

Still, space presents a unique challenge, which is commonly known as the “Space Problem.” To get something in to orbit requires the tolerance of enormous risk. Right now, there are few ways for a company to assess the performance of a technology (material, component, sensors/electronics, etc.) in space-like conditions without physically sending it to space. This requires companies to invest substantial time and capital into designs just to see if they’ll work. Getting things into space is expensive and requires substantial lead times in many cases. This can quickly take promising technology and push it outside of its window of effectiveness.

With space radiation being at the forefront of many concerns for these types of applications, it begs the question, is there a better way? EMA believes so. With the development of EMA’s Space Environment and Radiation Effects (SERE) facility and EMA3D® Charge, EMA plans to make on-demand terrestrial space evaluations commonplace. For all of these new technologies and companies entering the space market, delivering safe and reliable designs with proven performance in the harsh space environment is a true market differentiator. Contact EMA to learn how we can help you reduce cost and get your product to market faster.