A Deloitte Space report released June 14 urges companies in all industries to develop long-term space strategies.

“In previous decades, a carefully crafted technology strategy has become a competitive imperative,” says the xTech Futures: SpaceTech report. “Likewise, over the coming decades, companies across all industries will increasingly need to consider whether a space strategy will be a key component of their future.”

Many companies will continue to build and launch spacecraft, while others will support the space industry or consume space-related products and services.

“For many companies, the greatest value in the space economy will be in the form of satellite communications, navigation and data,” the report says.

Here, near and there

A Deloitte report describes the advantages of the near-and-there sense of space. We are talking about worldly goods here. Near means orbiting the Earth. It’s about deep space and potential rewards, including scientific advances, economic activity, and natural resources.

“Space is here today,” he told SpaceNews. Brett Luber, president of Deloitte Space. “A lot of people look at the space industry and focus heavily on tourism or the most glamorous or flashy parts of the industry.”

In contrast, the Deloitte report highlights the increasing affordability of space launches and the widespread availability of space services.

“From agricultural companies that use satellite data to optimize crop yields to pharmaceutical companies that leverage microgravity to develop life-saving solutions, we will show how industries can leapfrog into the next opportunity by leveraging advances in space technology and providing products and services to the growing markets of the space industry,” the report says.

Resources of commercial areas

Once commercial space stations are operational, a company interested in manufacturing in orbit or research in microgravity will not need to build and launch its own space station.

“And it’s not necessary to compete for a place on the state space station,” Luber said. “Potentially it could go to a commercial provider and use the lab facilities in a service model,” he added.

In the long run, Deloitte expects a “gold rush” for space resources. Lunar regolith contains water and other valuable materials. However, the report notes that countries still have to deal with the issue of regulating the extraction of celestial resources.

human problem

Additional problems identified in the report include space debris and the “human problem,” the difficulty in maintaining the physical and mental well-being of astronauts exposed to high levels of radiation and varying levels of gravity.

“Humans have evolved to live here on Earth, but the conditions we will encounter in space are completely alien,” the report states.