As our global economy expands to encapsulate new frontiers, the line between Earth and outer space is becoming blurred. This is already having a big impact on what a space business or a space product is.
When I say “space” I’m referring to the concept that humanity can push into frontier locations to create new opportunities for our world to thrive. To focus on rockets and satellites misses the point. It’s less about going to the Moon and more about what we can do with the Moon. It’s less about creating the infrastructure that will sit in remote locations beyond the reach of most people, and more about how those technological advancements can enrich everyone within our growing world.
This year we’ve seen several announcements from ‘terrestrial’ companies getting into the space game. Toyota is developing a lunar rover, Nokia is going to build a 4G telecoms service on the moon, and Microsoft is using their HoloLens Extended Reality platform to help the next generation of astronauts build and maintain space infrastructure. Even beauty and skincare company, Estée Lauder, is working with NASA to film a new advertisement on board the ISS.
This should be inspirational for aspiring space entrepreneurs and investors. By understanding “space” as new physical locations we can leverage, rather than the technology we traditionally associate with it, we can expand our minds to create new valuable products and services (or even translate existing ones) to further bring the frontier within reach of our economy.
We’re proud to talk about 2 of the first 4 investments Moonshot has made so far, which fit this bill. Swoop Aero are rapidly expanding their autonomous aerial vehicle logistics infrastructure and are currently in the DR Congo distributing medical supplies cheaper, faster and better than was possible before. JigSpace was featured by Apple as a part of their largest annual announcement event, for their augmented reality software that is being used by organisations from Medtronic to BAE Systems. They’re number 1 on the Apple App store, and it’s only a matter of time before we see them revolutionising how the space sector creates and maintains space infrastructure.
As we continue to increase our rolling, mentor-driven investment fund in anticipation of starting investments early next year, I’m looking forward to enabling the next generation of ambitious businesses that will accelerate humanity’s ability to integrate today’s frontiers into our economy for the benefit of society.
Ad astra
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Troy McCann
During university, where he studied computer science and electrical engineering, Troy mixed his passions for technology and entrepreneurship through multiple engineering-heavy businesses. Using his experiences in commercialising deep research and the space industry, Troy began to develop a framework for supporting the growth of commercial solutions to humanity’s most difficult challenges while assembling a community around it, forming the basis for Moonshot.
Troy was ranked the 4th most influential new space business leader of the industry in the NewSpace People Global Ranking Report for 2019.
