Space Impulse, the B2B Marketplace for the Space Industry
The commercial Space Industry accounts for over 75% of a $348 Billion market as of 2017. It is rapidly gaining momentum as it becomes less and less dependent on government funding. Like the early high-tech industry, a proliferation of startups is introducing new space-based applications and innovations, adding value with constantly improving technology and more efficient, lower-cost systems. As demand rises for more competitive products and services, private investors have fueled Space Industry growth with over $15 Billion in equity investments to date since 2009, at increasing levels year by year.
Approaching $400 Billion today, the Space Industry is expected to reach $2.7 Trillion in the coming 30 years. All of that revenue passes through the supply chain. While there are many B2B e-marketplaces serving the supply chains of various global industries, there are none yet dedicated to the Space Industry — and none yet operational, as of this writing, in any industry applying the revolutionary benefits of blockchain technology. Space Impulse is building that platform now, and our goal is to attract and bring business to a large percentage of the industry’s suppliers by the fifth year of our operations.
Our path to become the go-to Space Industry’s marketplace may be gauged by today’s juggernaut B2B platforms like Alibaba, eWorldTrade, TradeKey, etc., which rocketed to their massive size on the sheer power of providing a meeting place for businesses who had not had the opportunity to meet before, mainly building bridges between China and the rest of the world. But the potential goes far beyond what these pioneer platforms have demonstrated.
The exponential disrupter will be blockchain technology. Blockchain is rightly viewed by technology analysts as revolutionary for supply chain applications because of how it can work with complex, interdependent systems. In any typical supply chain, dozens of different methods for transacting and record-keeping can follow a single product from factory to shelf, along with hundreds of actual records and transactions. The Space Industry is among the especially complex, where multiple parties of different nationalities need to prove and verify highly sensitive requirements and obligations at every step on the path from Earth to orbit. Establishing and acting on trust in this process has always been as difficult as it is critical, but now there is a way to make the process much more efficient. Blockchain makes it possible with common ledgers, owned or controlled by no one, and usable by everyone, that are fundamentally more secure and verifiable than any other type of ledger in existence.
Before blockchain, any receipt or record for any transaction, no matter how mundane or important, was implicitly or explicitly dependent on the authority of intermediary parties and their proprietary, centralized systems, each with unique protocols, methods of verification, platforms, etc. In profound contrast, a properly implemented blockchain ledger, deployed with open-source code, cannot be owned, centralized, or controlled by anyone. It runs as a “decentralized application,” never dependent on any single or discrete processor or local system, and it can be relied upon to confirm in perpetuity any data recorded to it — whether a grocery receipt or a multi-million dollar launch service agreement signed by multiple parties.
Blockchain will open a new era for trade efficiency, especially where transactions and records are complex, multi-staged, interdependent, cross-border, etc. The Space Impulse strategy is to apply these benefits to a specific, very large, yet rapidly growing industry — the Space Industry — so that we can add industry-specific value and expertise around a highly scalable core marketplace engine.
Our B2B marketplace will establish a common platform where Space Industry companies and institutions can offer and procure all necessary products and services for a successful mission.
The key to the success of our platform at first will be to show immediate value for minimal participation. It will be extremely easy to sign up, at no cost, and at the same time compelling to use the platform tools to engage, negotiate, form contracts, and transact with other members. The power and convenience of the platform will be a reward in itself, but further incentives for working within the system will include reputation-building and ratings, standardization of contracts, ways to save on typical transaction fees, and more.
Revenue will come from the following sources:
- Extremely reasonable transaction fees;
- Premium platform membership benefits;
- Purchases of the system’s native token, Plasma (on the Ethereum blockchain);
As demand is extremely high and growing for blockchain expertise, we will also take advantage of high-quality opportunities for blockchain consultancy engagements when they are most compatible with our platform development work.
The Space Impulse B2B marketplace platform will be first in the Space Industry to provide a robust marketplace for all roles in the extended network of companies and institutions that work along the Earth/space interface. This includes launchers, integrators, insurers, certifiers, engineers, shippers, legal, and more. It is being developed as an open-source project and will be the first to offer the industry online tools such as RFP management and bidding, project management and integration, super low-cost blockchain-powered escrow, and more, in a unified platform.
The Space Impulse vision is a thriving and expanding space industry ecosystem supported by an efficient, robust, and dedicated marketplace with industry-specific functions. By reducing costs and times to orbit, we will help to clear and widen the pathway linking Earth and space. Our opportunity is to be first in the rapidly growing Space Industry to provide a dedicated B2B platform. This first-mover advantage, powered by blockchain and a passionate team of industry leaders, will take us to our goal in five years.
Find out more at:
- Website: https://www.spaceimpulse.com
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpaceImpulseCom
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/space-impulse
