Assessing the Aerospace Medicine Industry

post image

Spacecraft Orion in Earth’s orbit. Elements of this image furnished by NASA

Investing in the Next Health Frontier

Aerospace Medicine comprises a niche industry poised to expand in size over the next decade and is composed of a hybrid of other industries including *Life Sciences Research and Development, Space Research Services/Technology, *and Biotechnology Research and Development.

Related industry segments, such as the global clinical trials market, was estimated at USD $47 billion in 2021 and with an expected CAGR of 5.8% from 2022–2030. Whereas the industry focuses on biotechnology companies developing novel therapies, drug, and medical breakthroughs for a myriad of aspects of human health, Aerospace Medicine aims to approach a preventative standpoint as it establishes a long-term framework for human health and safety in future space missions as space exploration ramps up in the next decade and onwards.

As a relatively new industry with limited analysis, this assessment will provide forward-looking statements that derive data from adjacent but relevant industries that are directly involved in its growth.

NAICS Codes:

541715 — Life Sciences Research and development or services (including Medical Research and Physical Science)

92711 — Space Research and Technology

927110 — Space Research Services

541714 — Biotechnology research and development laboratories or service

Market Analysis

post image

Cardiovascular Aerospace Medicine

Aerospace medicine is considered as a specialized field of medicine concerned with the maintenance of health and performance of aircrew in the space and aviation environment. It aims to promote the safety and effectiveness of humans as they are exposed to the stresses of aerospace flight such as extreme temperature, low oxygen, atmospheric pressure, radiation, and strong forces of acceleration and deceleration. With the rising number of case studies and research on aviation, space, and environmental medicine, aerospace medicine is a cutting-edge field of medicine that creates huge opportunities for pharmaceutical companies and related vendors.

Segmentation:

  • Military Aerospace Medicine

  • Operational Aerospace Medicine

  • Clinical Aerospace Medicine

  • Civil Aerospace Medicine

  • Emergency Aerospace Medicine

  • Industrial Aerospace Medicine

Key Players:

  • NASA

  • SpaceX

  • Space Force

  • Boeing

  • Blue Origin

  • Virgin Galactic

  • Northrup Grumman

  • Lockheed Martin

  • Future Private companies with planned manned space launches

Key Suppliers/Vendors:

  • Aerospace Medical Association

  • The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH)

  • Venture Capital Firms investing in therapeutic and clinical stage biotech companies

  • Clinical Research Organizations (CROs)

  • Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Companies

  • Defense Agencies with funding and grants to promising research programs

Barriers to Entry:

  • High Cost of Technology Required to Evaluate Effectiveness

  • Large amount of Capital Required to Invest

  • Long-term Investment may take years to profit or recuperate, cash runway needed

  • Highly regulated via government and medical compliance

  • High cost of recruiting patients with the right fit / Limited sample size

  • Expertise in Medical & Space research

Industry Outlook

Financial Projections & Trends

To estimate potential market size, we first extract the necessary information to derive potential target market and penetration potential. According to the latest industry and market trends on Space Tourism by Statista, the estimated revenue of the orbital space tourism market worldwide amounted to roughly US $385 million, forecasted to reach $555 million by 2030.

The Global Space Economy ($t)

post image

The Global Space Economy (Source: Haver Analytics, Morgan Stanley Research Forecasts)

With the advent of pioneering space ventures, such as Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef space station, private companies are starting to explore new avenues of revenue, research, and growth. Orbital Reef, a project involving Blue Origin, Sierra Space, Boeing and a number of other institutions has recently passed its system definition (SDR) review with NASA and proceeds further into its design phase on track to begin operations in 2027. It is designed to be a mixed-use space station in low Earth orbit for commerce, research, and tourism by the end of the decade. Commercially developed, owned and operated , this would potentially open doors to new markets in addition to providing an “address on orbit” for use, lease, or ownership that is international and open to all.

Orbital Reef — Your Address in Orbit

From a healthcare perspective, astronauts (or any person traveling in space) require medical attention before, during, and after space flights and require certain preventative measures to protect from harmful stressors in the space environment.

Reports by Northern Sky Research estimate that ~60,000 passengers will travel into space over the next 10 years whilst revenue from these space flights is estimated to reach US ~8.7 billion by the year 2030. The amount current venture capitalists have invested into space companies worldwide from 2020–2021 amounts to a total of $26.2 billion. The cumulative equity investment in space companies worldwide from 2012–2021 amounts to a total of $253 billion. Given this vast amount of investment into space companies, the private sector and government sector will undoubtedly invest significantly in human health and risk of health defects as a risk of human space travel and will directly affect revenue. From the perspective of venture capital firms, the value in investing into clinical organizations whose research will directly affect future space travel passengers goes hand-in-hand with investing into the private companies that will send those passengers. Many of these private organizations, and government, will be looking to buy FDA cleared medications, drugs, therapies from these organizations to ensure long-term profitability.

“The revenue generated by the global space industry may increase to more than $1 trillion by 2040.”

post image

The Future of Space Exploration

According to Morgan Stanley and Citigroup analysts, the space industry as whole is on track to hit ~US $1 trillion in annual revenue by 2040. With declining costs & advanced technology propelling the space economy, the global space economy has seen at least 13 countries establishing their own space agencies in the past decade alone.

References