Financing the New Space Industry

Howard E. McCurdy is Professor in the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington, D.C.

• 1. Introduction: The View from the Mezzanine in Kent, Washington.- 2. The Dream of Commercial Space Flight.- 3. Financing Privately Developed Transportation Schemes: Precedents from the First Transcontinental Railroad.- 4. How Corporate Executives Approach Business Decisions: Financial Planning for the Boeing 707 Jetliner.- 5. Five Case Studies.- 6. Boeing: Pairing Commercial Work with Government Contracts to Reduce Risk.- 7. SpaceX: Leveraging Government Support to Raise Private Capital.- 8. Blue Origin: The Entrepreneur as Philanthropist.- 9. Virgin Galactic: Promoters and Prizes.- 10. Orbital Sciences: The Challenge of Breaking Away from Government Contracts as a Source of Revenue Flow.- 11. Other Methods of Government Support.- 12. Reflections and Summary.