Investing in Space in 2022—Join us for the ISSRDC Investor Session!

While many of the significant secular technology and innovation tailwinds for the space industry remain intact, the capital access environment for space entrepreneurs has changed in recent months. The S&P 500 Index is down 20% YTD, and the NASDAQ Composite Index has dropped close to 30% YTD, with many of the newly publicly listed companies seeing significantly steeper declines. The year 2021 was record-setting in terms of capital access, characterized by SPAC deals that provided unprecedented entry to public markets for many still-young space companies. The financial markets of 2022 have taken a much more conservative view on opportunities of the future versus profitability of today, and valuation metrics have been reassessed in the environment of higher inflation, rising interest rates, and geopolitical uncertainties.

With all these developments, capital market experts will gather for a panel session at the 11th annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference(Abbreviation: ISSRDC) The only conference dedicated exclusively to showcasing how the International Space Station is advancing science and technology and enabling a robust and sustainable market in LEO. This annual conference brings together leaders from the commercial sector, U.S. government agencies, and academic communities to foster innovation and discovery onboard the space station. ISSRDC is hosted by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, manager of the ISS National Lab; NASA; and the American Astronautical Society. (ISSRDC), held July 25-28, 2022, in Washington, D.C. We expect the conversation to cover the current state of play in space investment and funding access and how the investment landscape, with its opportunities and risks, is expected to evolve over the coming years. 

Carissa Christensen, CEO and founder of BryceTech, will moderate the session, which will take place on Day 2 of the conference. Panelists include: 

Tom Gillespie, Managing Partner at In-Q-Tel 
Since 2014, Gillespie has focused on commercial space technology and has led investments in more than a dozen space technology ventures, including launch vehicles, small satellite constellations, space situational awareness, and satellite componentry investments.  

Maureen Haverty, Vice President at Seraphim Space  
Haverty was an early-stage employee and COO at Apollo Fusion, a space startup that sold for $145 million, representing one of the largest acquisitions of a space component company. 

Phillip Ingle, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley Investment Banking Division 
Ingle specializes in the coverage of aerospace and defense, security, and general industrial companies and has worked on a variety of notable space-related M&A and capital market transactions. 

Liz Stein, Systems Engineer and Partner at Prime Movers Lab 
Stein spent the first 15 years of her career in aerospace engineering, and her investment areas of interest include space, aviation, geothermal energy, infrastructure security, and reproductive longevity.  

ISSRDC is hosted by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS(Abbreviation: CASIS™) The nonprofit organization that manages the ISS National Lab, which receives at least 50 percent of the U.S. research allocation on the International Space Station to facilitate research that benefits humanity (NASA manages the other 50% and focuses on research for space exploration purposes).), manager of the ISSInternational Space Station National Lab; NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration; and the American Astronautical Society (AAS). Join us to learn more about investing in space in 2022. Please visit the official registration page for additional information and to register for ISSRDC.