The space industry sits at the center of technological innovation, economic growth and national security.
But as activity in orbit continues to expand, so do the opportunities and the challenges facing the sector.
So are we still in the early innings of a new space age or are expectations running ahead of reality?
I'm Alison Nathan and this is Goldman Sachs Exchanges.
Joining me today to help unpack all this are Eric Sparks
and Michael Tarulli from Goldman Sachs' Global Banking and Markets Group.
Eric is our head of global resilience, leading our coverage of space technology, satellite communications,
and national security infrastructure.
And Michael is our global head of aerospace and defense, bringing deep corporate expertise
and relationships with the world's largest companies in the sector.
Michael, Eric, welcome to the program.
Thank you for having us.
Thank you.
Michael, let's just start first with the big picture here.
Obviously seeing tremendous growth in the global space economy right now.
So talk to us about what's really driving that interest and that momentum.
The single most important factor is the cost to launch a kilogram into space.
So that cost during the height of the space shuttle era was about $55,000 per kilogram.
That's down to $3,000 per kilogram today.
So it's really democratized space.