Space Infrastructure: An Emerging Asset Class

Space related assets are becoming investable for infrastructure investors, but not uniformly and not on conventional terms. 

For experienced infrastructure investors, the immediate opportunity lies less in broad exposure to the space economy but more in assets with infrastructure-like cash flows: ground stations, mission control assets, data-processing facilities and selected dual-use platforms (supported by credible government or enterprise counterparties). 

Traditional infrastructure investors need to be conscious of:

• rapidly advancing technology – including refresh risk in the context of investment horizons; 
• regulatory due diligence – which may include spectrum, orbital rights, export controls, sovereign risks and foreign ownership constraints; and