Private Space Companies Like Orbital Assembly Poised to Take Off

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Orbital Assembly Corp. wants to make space travel available to everyone. The privately held company plans to do this by building a rotating wheel space station known as Voyager. Investing in OAC today through the equity crowdfunding site Netcapital would give you exposure to the rapidly growing space industry.

A concept art of an astronaut with a space secene behind.
Source: Shutterstock

We all saw the headlines last summer as two of the richest men in the world took trips to space. First was Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) founder Richard Branson on July 11, followed nine days later by Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos (better known as the CEO/founder of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)).

Both took trips on their companies’ respective space planes and experienced a few minutes on the edge of space.

Even more impressive was Elon Musk’s SpaceX Inspiration4 launch on Sept. 15. Funded by yet another billionaire, Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) founder Jared Isaacman, the Inspiration4 trip took Isaacman and three others on a three-day trip into space.

As reported by CNN, they traveled “higher than any human has traveled in a century.” None of them had previous experience in space flight.

While billionaires joyriding in space is a far cry from you or me taking a trip to space, the technology that these billionaires have funded to take their first flights is groundbreaking. It’s technology that will pave the way for space travel in the future…

The Future of Space Travel

Right now, buying a ticket to space on a Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo will cost you $450,000. According to The New York Times, sending three passengers on the SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) costs $55 million… each.

We have a long way to go before the average person can afford to go to space.

But cost isn’t the only obstacle.

Currently, space travelers find themselves in a microgravity environment. Within 48 hours, you can start to experience the detrimental effects.

Effects of extended time in microgravity environments include loss of muscle mass, vision problems, developing kidney stones from dehydration, and bone loss.

That is one thing Orbital Assembly aims to solve.

The company’s low-gravity space stations will allow for the body to function in space. Orbital Assembly says its technology can be used to build the first artificial-gravity space station.

Orbital Assembly envisions its space stations being used for long-duration missions, space tourism, research and development for numerous industries, and media and film production.

How Will Orbital Assembly Build It?

Orbital Assembly uses a “low-Earth orbit” design for its space stations. The ISS is also a low-Earth orbit space station. According to NASA, “low-Earth orbit is considered the area in Earth orbit near enough to Earth for convenient transportation, communication, observation and resupply.”

The company has developed the technology and ability to build its stations in space.

Not only that, but Orbital Assembly claims that it costs less to build its stations in space than it does to build them on Earth and transport them to orbit.

Better yet, the company says it can build faster in space.

During a ground demonstration in June 2021, Orbital Assembly says its Demonstration Structural Truss Assembly Robot (DSTAR) succeeded in “constructing a six-ton structure the length of a football field in just 24 record breaking minutes.” On the other hand, it took the United States and its partners 27 years to design, build, launch, and assemble the ISS.

From Orbital Assembly’s Netcapital deal page:

We anticipate the STAR system will amortize its development and operation costs over time as demand builds for its ability to produce superstructure elements for a variety of private industry applications.

Orbital Assembly’s Pioneer Class Structural Truss Assembly Robot (PSTAR) system is designed to work with other robots and drones to build its space stations and other structures. Orbital Assembly says:

PSTAR can be reused for co-orbital construction projects and projects in the same orbit inclination. It can also be custom built and launched for a specific task or orbit.

The company plans to launch PSTAR as early as 2023 to build its first station, Gravity Ring.

The Space Market and Opportunity

Venture capital money is pouring into privately held space startups.

In 2021, space companies raised a record $17 billion, up $9 billion from 2020.

Of that, $4.3 billion went to space infrastructure companies like Orbital Assembly.

Also in 2021, both Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) and Planet Labs (NYSE:PL) went public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) or a reverse merger. And just recently, privately held Italian space-tech company D-Orbit announced plans to go public in the second or third quarter this year via a SPAC in a $1.4 billion deal.

The space market is gaining steam… and it’s moving faster than ever before…

Orbital Assembly is raising private equity crowdfunding funds now…

But if you are interested, you must act fast.

Orbital Assembly is currently raising funds on Netcapital. The deal closes on Feb. 10.

If you choose to invest in OAC, you need to make a minimum investment of $100.38.

As I mentioned, the company plans on its first launch in 2023, with other stations planned to be built in 2025 and 2027. While the company isn’t currently turning a profit, Orbital Assembly forecasts that it will have a positive cash flow by 2025.

Like with any type of investment, investing in private companies carries risk. You shouldn’t invest more money than you can afford to lose. Before acting, I recommend looking into the company yourself to see if it meets your personal investment criteria.

You can find the details of the deal, including how to invest, here.

On this date of publication, Jessica Zeller did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.

Investing in startups through equity and real estate crowdfunding or asset tokenization requires a high degree of risk tolerance. Despite what individual companies may promise, there’s always the chance of losing a portion, or the entirety, of your investment. These risks include:

1) Greater chance of failure
2) Risk of fraudulent activity
3) Lack of liquidity
4) Economic downturns
5) Dearth of investor education

Read more: Private Investing Risks

Jessica Zeller has spent over a decade following the financial markets and bridging the gap between retail investors and complex investment strategies. Her focus has been in technology and high-growth investment strategies.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2022/02/orbital-assembly-corp-gives-exposure-to-explosive-market/.

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