SpaceX is expected to debut on the public markets at a $2 trillion valuation. That number is extraordinary for any company, but for me, a space enthusiast, space investor, and space entrepreneur, it also carries an uncanny connection to how SpaceX got its start — its “wedge” into the market.
That wedge is the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS — the most expensive and ambitious engineering project in human history — is where SpaceX began sending cargo in 2012 and humans in 2020. For over a quarter century, first before SpaceX and now because of it, the ISS has been a triumph of science, diplomacy, and persistence. But as the ISS nears deorbit, there is a very real risk of losing trillions of dollars in latent value currently trapped in the ISS and the space industry’s antiquated economic model.
