“I’m interested to see the ambition of what’s happening here in Korea right now. We’re going to be paying attention to see what comes next,” Chad Anderson, founder and managing partner at Space Capital, said during an interview with the Chosun Daily on Jun. 5 at the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. He visited Korea to attend as a keynote speaker at the ‘Space K 2024′ forum hosted by ChosunBiz on that day.
“With the global economic situation being so challenging, the government budget and the private sector need to grow together,” Anderson said. “It’s great to see Korea’s ambition in the space industry, particularly with establishing the Korea AeroSpace Administration and the Korean Space Agency’s research abilities.”
Space Capital, headquartered in New York and founded by Anderson in 2017, has invested in over 80 startups, including notable companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Planet Labs, and Rocket Lab. Anderson highlighted Space Capital’s interest in applying AI to geospatial information satellites, emphasizing the growing need to manage the vast data generated by new satellite launches.
“Now that the barriers to entry have been lowered with the advent of SpaceX, we’re seeing new satellites launching all over the place,” Anderson said. “We have an unprecedented amount of data about the Earth’s surface, and AI is essential to sort through, understand, and derive useful insights from it.”
Anderson also noted the increasing congestion in space, with nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit, and stressed the need for technology to maintain clean orbits. “Space allows us to understand and solve global problems like climate change,” he added.
He praised the technology developed by several Korean space startups, including UZURO Tech, and emphasized the importance of regional capabilities for space situational awareness and debris mitigation.
Anderson, who holds degrees in finance and economics and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Oxford University, saw the potential for economic development in the space industry early on. He gained experience at the space robotics company Astrobotics before founding Space Capital.
“I wanted to be a businessman helping to grow the space industry. I needed to get smart and get smart fast. There, I also met my partner, a technical expert, and together we built a team and created a fund with a team that was second to none,” Anderson said.
He also contributed to establishing a space industry innovation center in the United Kingdom, noting the UK government’s proactive space policy.
“What I noticed when I was working with the UK government is that they were early, they identified an opportunity, set some money aside, and made it a priority,” Anderson said. “I think in Korea, if the government and the private sector come together, it will take a while to get started, but then it will move quickly.”
Earlier this month, Anderson published a book in Korea introducing the concept and current status of the space economy. According to Space Capital’s quarterly Space IQ report, $300 billion has been invested in nearly 2,000 space companies worldwide in the last decade.
“A lot of people think there’s a bubble in the space industry because there’s more activity than ever before, but that’s not the case at all,” Anderson said. “There’s no bubble in the space industry. We will see tremendous growth when the necessary infrastructure is in place.”
Despite uncertainties, Anderson emphasized the critical role of space technology for national and economic security. “It will be the next multi-trillion-dollar industry, and that’s why I emphasize the ‘space economy,’” he said.
