Plus: Winning the multi-domain race against China
By Dan Robitzski
Welcome back to our weekly newsletter highlighting the opinions and perspectives of the SpaceNews community.
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FROM SPACENEWS |
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Someone you know belongs on this list: Whatever category fits — technology, sustainability, defense, advocacy or an entire career's worth of impact — the Icon Awards are built to recognize achievements across the industry. Tell us about the innovators, collaborators and change-makers whose contributions have left a lasting mark. Nominations for this year's awards are open now through Aug. 14, and we want to hear from you. Submit your picks. |
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The space economy is rapidly growing and, even though the timelines for missions, satellite production and other activity are shrinking, managing the financial side of the space industry can take years of patience. To offer guidance, three attorneys from the law firm King & Spalding — Elizabeth Silbert, Carson W. Bennett and Viva Dadwall — wrote out five lessons that space industry investors can take from those in the energy sector.
"Space and energy share a common risk profile: They involve long-term investments with high upfront costs repaid over years or decades; enduring state leverage (including through state-owned enterprises); exposure to political and geopolitical risk; intense regulatory oversight; national security sensitivities and reputational 'social license' pressures," they wrote. "These hallmarks of the energy field increasingly characterize private ventures in the space economy."
One key lesson was to mind gaps in international law, and gaps in which laws and regulations impact governmental activity versus that of private companies.
"Until a genuine private-rights regime emerges, investors in the space economy should consider 'borrowing' protections via treaty-based structuring and by drafting internationalized contracts that create enforceable private remedies in arbitration," the trio wrote.
Read the full SpaceNews opinion article here |
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A Long March 6A rocket lifts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China, carrying 18 satellites for the Qianfan/Thousand Sails constellation, Oct. 17, 2025. Credit: CASC
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Military success will depend on technological advancement and secure supply chains as much as it will tactics and bigger weapons, retired Maj. Gen. Thomas “Tav” Taverney wrote in an opinion article describing how the United States ought to approach technological and military competition with China.
Taking lessons from war in Ukraine and Iran, he described how space-based surveillance, mass deployment of drones and other new technology has changed the landscape but also the economics of warfare.
"Victory increasingly depends upon industrial endurance, resilient logistics, secure supply chains and the ability to replace combat losses more rapidly than an adversary. The nation capable of sustaining military operations over time will ultimately prevail," he wrote. "For the U.S., this means preparing not only to fight effectively, but to compete continuously. Technological innovation and industrial resilience are inseparable elements of national security."
Read the full SpaceNews commentary here.
SpaceNews is committed to publishing our community’s diverse perspectives. Whether you’re an academic, executive, engineer or even just a concerned citizen of the cosmos, send your arguments and viewpoints to opinion (at) spacenews.com to be considered for publication online or in our next magazine. If you have something to submit, read some of our recent opinion articles and our submission guidelines to get a sense of what we’re looking for. The perspectives shared in these opinion articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent their employers or professional affiliations. |
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