India went moon Meanwhile, Rocket Lab USA has returned to space. Heaven is booming these days.
On Wednesday morning, India became the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon, after the United States, Russia and China. Additionally, the Chandrayaan spacecraft landed at the South Pole of the Moon, making India the first country to land on the South Pole of the Moon.
The rover will study the moon’s geology, looking for water and other sources that could one day provide fuel and support for some nation’s lunar base. All very impressive.
The Indian space agency has spent $1 billion on developing, launching and landing the probe. NASA’s annual budget falls in the following ranges: $20 billion.
Companies like SpaceX and Rocket Lab (Ticker: RKLB) have demonstrated that it costs hundreds of millions, not billions, of dollars to develop a variable space business.
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Wednesday night, Eastern Time, Rocket Lab launched Successfully completed its 40th mission using an Electron rocket, delivering a satellite into low earth orbit in Capella Space. I also flew a recycle engine.
Rocket Lab is expected to have approximately $290 million in revenue in 2023, with approximately $125 million used to build the business. Wall Street projects free cash flow to be positive by 2025 when sales are in his $600 million range.
SpaceX is one of the most impressive companies in the space business, with sales projected to reach around $8 billion in 2023. Because the company is privately held, investors don’t know much about free cash flow and portability. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment on its sales forecast.
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In 2023, the United States will launch more than 60, China about 35, and India six. Most US launches have been launched at SpaceX’s Rocket Lab a few times, but more often from its own facility in New Zealand.
Boot shares are not payload shares. Elon Musk has said his company SpaceX will deliver 80% of payloads delivered to space in 2023. This is great.
Rocket Lab is up 2.9% in premarket trading.
S&P500
and
NASDAQ Composite
Futures rose 0.4% and 0.9%, respectively. Rocket Lab shares are up 57% year-to-date and 11% over the past 12 months in Thursday trading.
Email Al Root (allen.root@dowjones.com).