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THE DECADE OF SPACEX | by jurvetson
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THE DECADE OF SPACEX

Like clockwork this morning, SpaceX launched another 60 Starlink broadband data link satellites, now on a biweekly launch cadence that should run throughout 2020. To put that in perspective, by the end of 2020, SpaceX will have 10x as many satellites as no. 2, Planet for Earth Observation. By 2021, they will have more satellites operating in space than all other companies and countries combined!

 

This year should also see the first U.S. flight of astronauts in nearly a decade since the Shuttle’s retirement, and the debut of the big shiny Starship, disrupting the industry cost structure another 10x still. Supersonic space flights between cities, as well as humans on Mars are planned for this decade: www.spacex.com/mars

 

But if we step back, and look over the past decade, it is breathtaking to see how far we have come from the first Falcon 9 flight in 2010. As the SpaceNews cover story summarizes: “It was the decade of SpaceX.”

 

“Books will likely be written about the commercial space renaissance of the 2010s.”

 

"There is a pace of change that is dynamically different than 10 years ago. When you can build, launch and test a small satellite quickly, you can iterate quickly and take advantage of Moore’s Law,” said Steve Jurvetson, co-founder of Future Ventures, a SpaceX board member and Planet investor. “A good analogy is personal computers compared to mainframes”

 

“Billions of dollars in private capital flowed into space startups in the decade; 509 startups raised $24.6 billion”

 

“What blew my mid was the incredible influx of venture capital from mainstream venture funds,” said Steve Jurvetson. “SpaceX is clearly a juggernaut of a company and a visible success. A wave of fast followers saw that and wanted to have a space investment in their portfolio. The end of this decade has been a great time to have been an entrepreneur.”

 

Full disclosure: we first led investments in SpaceX in 2009 and the first two rounds of Planet at its founding.

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Taken on January 28, 2020