“Robotic Dog”, a Quadri-ped ground drone by Ghost Robotics, was on display. 


Space commercialization entities on exhibit made impressions with Robotic dogs, astronaut ice cream, and metal-cast Captain America shields, as the oddities of display booths showcased a highly engagement of well-established industry in the Space sector. 

SpaceCom Expo 2023 gave deep glimpses into the current progress of Space industries that are activley bridging the gap between deep science innovation, information technology, and the "common place" integration of emerging industries into society.

While there were no major plot twists, the showroom floor showed the great strides modern satellite technology, data analytics, and manufacturing have made toward producing a viable human presence in Space.
 
IT and InfoSec
SpaceCom featured a plethora of information technology presenters. Among them were co-sponsors Dell Technologies, Deloitte, and smaller enterprises such as the DLZP Group. DLZP Group, a SMART compliance entity, explained that they provide government compliance audit services and literature for preparing an entity’s unique software for having to register with the government regulation protocols. 

SpiderOak featured their "zero trust security for zero gravity" information security services. Those who stopped by the booth were offered a bar of vacuum-sealed, freeze-dried "astronaut ice cream." The brand used this simple advertising for a high-scale ambition. SpiderOak security protects the "most important civil, military, and commercial space operations" by providing security to the satellite sector. 

Data Analysis 
Also in attendance was a harvest of strong data analytics services providers.

Lifescale Analytics was featured among them, explaining their service as an actionable insights platform, creating useful data from everything that can be digitized, such as old PDF statements and analogous information stored in companies’ hard drives. 

Lifescale explained that it had a partnership with Aerospike, the data system at the heart of PayPal’s rapid fraud detection strategy. The rapid fraud detection powered by Geospatial Intelligence Systems showcases the ground-real application that Space entities already have in earthbound enterprises. 

Software and Technology as a Service 
A large component of the exhibitors on the floor was the managed services. These ranged from Leaf Space, a ground station as a service platform, which enables the seamless communication between satellites in the Low Earth Orbital, or “LEO” space, to Modernization as a Service, abbreviated MaaS.
 
Mechanics and Robotics 
Hardware and robotics stole the show as Ghost Robotics showed off the “robotic dog”, a state-of-the-art Quadrupedal Unmanned Vehicle, abbreviated Q-UGV, a.k.a. the ground drone. The ground can move, walk, creep, and bow in a manner that appears dog-like. 

The ground drone’s movement was so similar to a dog that some attendees were calling out to it like a puppy, petted it, and offered to give it a name for the Space Force officer who was operating the drone. 

The drone is impervious to slips, and falls, with advantages over ground vehicles such as using wheels, tracks, or bipedal systems, stated the Ghost Robotics landing page. 

Other manufacturers included CryoWorks, a cryo pipe company that produces vacuum jacket pipes for rocket systems. The vacuum jackets prevent the liquid contents of engines from becoming solid ice en route across Space. 


Logistics and Transportation 
Among the many defense and capabilities offerings present, there were also logistics unifying those efforts. SpacePort featured the framework of Spaceports, which, like airports, provide the ground air traffic control and logistic sites for Space flight testing. The SpacePort America platform prides itself as the first-of-its-kind space destination airport, where USAF Thunderbirds and other rocket launches make their hub for tests. 


Academics, Defense, and Government Entities 
Also in attendance were academic entities, trade agencies, and government entities, including special aerospace education programs from the Haslam College of Business, Aerospace and Defense, with the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN, Waldorf University, and Thunderbird School of Global Management with the University of Arizona. 

For trade agencies, the Italian Trade Agency was present, as a sponsoring member of the expo, and featured multi-level views of the Italian Space commercial sector. 

Space Force featured, demonstrating robotics and speaking on the floor. Along with the Space Force was the Space Force Association, and the Defense Department’s cyber security functions. 

Under the umbrella of defense and government relations entities, stood the Space Enterprise Consortium. SpEC builds pathways for entities to cooperate with the U.S. government and U.S. defense branches through its active academic and industry partners.  The Space Enterprise Consortium was created in 2017 through the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. 

NASA was present at the event as well, featuring a virtual rocket-building simulator, as well as an exhibit of the Lunar Rover. NASA also represented its NASA Partnerships program, featuring 2,500+ active partnerships with industry, academia, U.S. government agencies, and international entities. 


Moving Pieces of Space Commercialization 
While large audiences tend to think of Space exploration and industrialization as being like in the movies, SpaceCom’s floor exhibitors showed a straightforward picture of all the many components that make up the Space business. 


As CisLunar and LEO Space commercialization advances, these players will no longer remain in the backdrop of setting Space businesses in motion. More often than not, experts anticipate that the Space industry will become a career option for mainstream tech, finance, logistics, and manufacturing professionals as the Space Commercialization Age kicks off. This is an interest that universities are pushing to make mainstream, but experts also believe the interest will increase interest naturally, see more at The University of Pennsylvania.

Rachel Brooks, Next Dawn News 

Seraphim has recently released an infographic that illustrates their new ecosystem map for 2023, which focuses on the “in-space economy”. The map encompasses a wide range of areas, including the various services and infrastructure that help to support satellites in space, the lunar economy, the exploration and mining of space, and in-space manufacturing.


Breaking it Down:
As identified by Seraphim, they have zeroed in on 6 major sectors in the Space Economy Ecosystem:

• In Space Services 
• Space Infrastructure
• Lunar Economy
• In Space R&D & Manufacturing
• Manned Spaceflight 
• Space Exploration & Utilisation

Services are at the forefront of their comprehensive list.  Seraphim further broke down this sector into Orbital Tugs, In-Space Communications, Space Situational Awareness, Debris Removal, and Orbital Servicing.  As the space economy is expanding and maturing, more services related to maintaining existing spacecraft and missions will be coming online.  


Lunar Economy
Artemis I's successful mission last year is paving the way for new business prospects, as a tangible lunar economy is taking shape.  Landers, habitats, and lunar resource utilization are becoming very real and investable opportunities.  

Improving Life in Space
Another area of note, is the Pharma, Life Sciences, & Bioengineering subsection under the In-Space Manufacturing.  Over 21 companies are working towards drug development, tissue growth, and the advantages of manufacturing in space.  These advances could potentially unlock an entire industry or even a new drug discovery.

Seraphim believes these sectors indicate the greatest opportunities, and now is the right time to invest.  Their space index work is based on a variety of factors, and these have shown the highest growth in investment.  


For a closer look, and to see the companies disrupting every sector, download their free report.

If you'd like a handy, 16x9 desktop background version, you can pick that up here.

Sean Mahoney became part of the Space Industry by accident. 

“Unlike so many of the folks in this industry, I stumbled into it. It was other attributes of the industry that really drew me in,” Mahoney told Michael Laine, show host of Dare Greatly, during a recent podcast. 

Mahoney got involved with the Space Foundation in 2016 or so. In the beginning, he said he got brushed off by a lot of people at big companies with “a lot of importance about themselves,” whenever he told others he was working for his previous company Masten Space Systems. 

Yet, as he became a member of the Space Frontier Foundation, Mahoney realized with clarity the vision and purpose of building a bright future for humans in Space. 

What Space Frontier Foundation Is, and Why It Matters
The Space Frontier Foundation is a space advocacy foundation, dedicated to making a perfect future for humans in Space. 

The foundation was a home for many of the “Space Pirates” described in Lori Garver’s Escaping Gravity. People with non-science and non-NASA traditional backgrounds are becoming more prominent in the commercialization effort of Space. For these individuals, the mission values of the Space Frontier Foundation offered a haven. 

Mahoney credits his origins outside of the Space industry for his success at the Space Frontier Foundation. The group needed someone to promote the mission statement. Mahoney’s background in business administration made him the one for the job, even though there was another member of the team who was more adept at explaining the science. 

Blue Origin’s Scholarship  
Space Frontier Foundation was going through a rough patch financially when the group received its Blue Origin Club For the Future Scholarship. The scholarship not only covered operating expenses, but it also supported some higher-level ambitions the group was targeting. 
Mahoney said that the scholarship was a great boost for the organization, which was fed a lot of volunteers by the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space organization.

Looking To the Future
The Space Frontier Foundation is driven to find a framework that solves the necessities humans will need to successfully populate Space. The drive is to settle Space through non-governmental means. While there will be a governmental presence in Space, this foundation focuses on the rest of the story. 

Lessons Learned
Mahoney said that he’s learned to “revel in the struggle” itself. He and Mr. Laine discussed how, in the Space industry, a 99.75% success rate is still considered a failure. To advance in Space, despite this extremely narrow margin for error, Mahoney believes that Space pioneers should revel in just how hard things are to do and revel in the journey of executing those massive challenges.