Expanding and Enhancing the New Space Economy

The Institute of Space Commerce is a nonprofit think tank headquartered in Austin, TX focused on expanding and enhancing the economic and commercial dimensions of the space industry ... what many call Space 2.0. It operates as an intellectual hub for policy, research, and global dialogue.

"Eutelsat was a monopoly, Inmarsat was a monopoly. And then you see the emergence, and now we have those very vital ecosystems. Everything from Starlink to remote sensing to other aspects of satellite communications."
Michael Potter, The Institute of Space Commerce

This week on The Journal of Space Commerce Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Michael Potter, one of the co-founders of the Institute of Space Commerce. He said that the institute is at least in part an outgrowth of the transition from a government-centric space industry to one that is more commercially focused. As an example, he cited satellite communications, which in its early days was completely monopolized by governments. Then, the industry started to get pressure from real commercial players.

"One of the early pioneers was PanAmSat. And basically it was illegal, it was illegal for people to try to break that monopoly. And so we had to go through a process, and members of the Institute of Space Commerce, many of the key members have decades and decades of experience in commercialization, law, policy, regulation," Potter said. "And we had to break the back of the Intelsat monopoly, which was 100 percent monopoly. Eutelsat was a monopoly, Inmarsat was a monopoly. And then you see the emergence, and now we have those very vital ecosystems. Everything from Starlink to remote sensing to other aspects of satellite communications. So that is a normal process. It starts (as a) kind of government monopoly entity, and then it gets spun off where it becomes a powerful ecosystem."

The Institute offers Fellowships & Scholarships to nurture the next generation of space economic leaders, Space Cafe Events, global educational gatherings on cutting-edge industry topics, Research Publications including essays, white papers, and books, Media Contributions and Outreach Campaigns, including advocacy such as S.O.S. (Save Our Station) for the ISS.