3 Actions Millionaire-Maker Space | The Pied Fool

Historically, space exploration and putting satellites into orbit has been the purview of government-funded agencies like NASA.

That’s changing, though. For-profit corporations can manage this activity at least as effectively as government organizations. Elon Musk’s SpaceX recently facilitated the world’s first private spacewalk, for example, while Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is integrating space tourism. Blue Origin’s newest rocket will even soon launch two probes to Mars for NASA.

This is just the beginning of privatized work in outer space, now that technology not only allows it, but mandates it. The Polaris market research team and Precedence agree that launch services alone will be about $50 billion a year in business within a decade. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley and Read both predict that all space-related science, technology and business will be worth $1 trillion by 2040.

Connect the dots. There is a real investment opportunity here.

The top prospects, however, are not likely to be the obvious names. Potential millionaire-making space stocks are probably the lower-profile stocks that might even be considered a little off the radar. Here’s a closer look at three of your better bets among such prospects.

Rocket Lab USA

Maybe not a last name, but Rocket Lab USA (RKLB -1.54%) been very busy for some time. Since its first launch in May 2017, this company has put more than 190 satellites into orbit. Its technology (such as software, solar panels, radios, etc.) is also found inside over 1,700 different satellites, as well as the James Webb Space Telescope. The two Mars probes mentioned above will also fly with Rocket Lab technology on board.

While there is a clear market for satellite launches, Rocket Lab has been at it for a while. For any ticker to offer real millionaire-making potential, the company must be largely undiscovered. That or they have to do something new that most investors still don’t fully appreciate. In this case it is the latter.

To date, all launches of this company have used the so-called Electron rocket. It’s perfect for putting small satellites into orbit, but not powerful enough to lift larger satellites, exploration craft or humans into space.

That’s coming, though. The Neutron rocket, expected to begin flying next year, will be a so-called medium-lift vehicle capable of carrying larger machines. In fact, it will even be able to provide the initial liftoff for missions to Mars and Venus. The Neutron rocket will also be reusable, making it cost-effective for both the company and its customers. Perhaps most importantly, the soon-to-be-launched Neutron rocket will provide real competition for SpaceX, which currently dominates the medium-haul market.

And interest is certainly building even before its first commercial flight. The US Space Force has already provided funding for the joint development of an upper stage of Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket as part of the Defense Department’s efforts to ensure it is capable of securing and defending the United States wherever and whenever it is needed.

AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS -4.07%) it’s not as far along as Rocket Lab USA is on the commercialization front. In fact, the company recently launched its first commercial satellites. These certainly won’t be the last, though, now that the underlying technology has been proven and perfected.

It is not an apples to apples comparison. While Rocket Lab designs technology for others’ satellites, as well as a means to put them into orbit, as the name suggests, AST SpaceMobile provides mobile broadband connectivity via satellites rather than cell phone towers. This technology is capable of connecting anyone to the Internet worldwide, regardless of where they are — no physical infrastructure (other than a working, web-capable phone) is required.

At first glance, it seems like a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. You probably have no problem connecting to the web, whether it’s with your phone or computer. However, this is not necessarily the norm, and this line of thinking underestimates a growing challenge.

You see, as the world becomes more and more connected — including our cars — our telecommunications infrastructure is being pushed to its limits. Much of the developed world is now short of radio frequencies to assign to cell phones and cell towers. Offloading this data traffic to fiber optic connections has certainly helped, but managing these constant mass changes can also be technically complex and will still not fully meet future needs.

There is also the not-so-small issue that such connectivity frameworks are vulnerable to power outages and other types of disruptions.

However, satellite-based connectivity circumvents many of these issues. It’s not exactly a new idea either. Even though it’s not always practical or affordable for the average consumer, satellite cell phone connectivity has been around since the 90s.

Now that it’s practical as well as affordable, Polaris Market Research believes this market is poised to grow at an average annual rate of 18% through 2032. The AST SpaceMobile is right in the middle of this integration movement.

Intuitive machines

Last but not least, add Intuitive machines (MON -2.37%) to your list of space related stocks that could turn out to be millionaire makers.

In some ways, Intuitive Machines is the riskiest of the three stocks in question simply because of its small size and young age. Its market cap is just $375 million, and while it’s now producing annual revenue in the same range since its 2013 founding, it’s still operating in the red with just over $30 million in cash in the bank.

In other ways, however, Intuitive Machines is arguably the least risky of these three stocks simply because it also operates the most practical trading business today. Simply put, this company helps for-profit organizations and government agencies get back to the moon. Whether it’s drones landing on the moon to map it or a means to put communications satellites into lunar orbit, Intuitive Machines has a solution.

It’s also prescient, given that the Moon has once again moved into the spotlight as the world’s next focus for space exploration, perhaps as a mine or colonization site, or perhaps as a testbed for a manned mission to Mars.

Indeed, NASA’s Artemis rocket, designed specifically to return humanity to the Moon, is still scheduled to do so sometime in the latter part of 2025 or 2026. That journey will be made possible in part by the help already provided by Intuitive Machines and on who will provide it in the future. . The company recently announced a $117 million contract to deliver six different payloads to the moon for NASA.

This is still just the beginning. Analysts believe growing interest in trips to the moon will generate enough revenue growth for Intuitive Cars to take it out of the red and into the black by 2026. Hitting that milestone could easily send this stock on a rocket ride, so to speak.