According to a report published by New York-based firm Space Capital, private investment in space companies set a record last year.
In 2021, space infrastructure companies received $14.5 billion in private investment, notching a new annual record. In comparison with the previous year, the reading was up by more than 50%. Sierra Space, Elon Musk's SpaceX, and Planet Labs were among the biggest gainers.
"As we look ahead, we see tremendous opportunities to scale mass adoption of the existing infrastructure as we look for radically new approaches to build and operate space-based assets," Space Capital managing partner Chad Anderson said.
The report divided record investment by venture capital firms into three categories: infrastructure, distribution, and applications. Infrastructure includes space companies that build rockets and satellites. Space Capital compiled its reports based on statistics of 1,694 companies that attracted $252.9 billion in cumulative global equity investment across three space categories since 2012.
“It’s important for investors to realize that investment in the space economy requires specialist expertise. We believe this will become more apparent in 2022 as some of these overvalued companies come back down to Earth and the quality companies rise above,” Anderson said.
