Carissa Christensen: Venture Capital Firms Show Increased Interest in Space Companies

Carissa Christensen, CEO of Bryce Space and Technology, has said venture capital firms have made “consistent” investments in space companies amid the lack of “megadeals” involving space startups in 2017, Space News reported Tuesday.

Christensen said Tuesday at the SpaceCom Expo in Houston, Texas, that the previous two years each recorded approximately $3 billion in total investments in space startups and that calendar year 2016 saw larger investment deals despite the decline in the number of investors.

“That may indicate a degree of maturity,” Christensen noted.

“Instead of money going into early stage startups, there are more deals focusing on maturing companies that appear to be hitting their milestones and achieving success,” she added.

She also cited factors that drive “strong” investor interest in space companies and those include the capability of small satellites to help new ventures increase access to space as well as the emergence of data offerings and other applications associated with satellite constellations and satellite-based broadband systems, the report added.