Start a Space Venture: Key Rationale, Funding, Strategic Approaches, and Overcoming Challenges for New Entrants in the Space Sector

The Space Economy Start chapter analyses the strategic rationale for founding a new space company within the NewSpace environment characterised by declining launch costs, reusable rockets, and expanding private capital. It synthesises historical precedents (e.g., SpaceX, Rocket Lab) and current trends to show how clean-slate entrants leverage agile engineering, flexible architectures, and mission focus to overcome legacy constraints and accelerate innovation. Market opportunities include micro-launchers, small satellites/CubeSats, LEO constellations, satellite data analytics, in-orbit servicing, in-orbit manufacturing, cislunar exploration, and sustainable orbital infrastructure aligned with space sustainability and debris mitigation. The chapter reviews funding mechanisms, venture capital, corporate investment, and government programs (SBIR/STTR), and strategic partnerships with NASA, ESA, and commercial primes. It delineates regulatory and compliance requirements: FAA launch licensing, FCC/ITU spectrum coordination, export controls (ITAR/EAR), insurance, and environmental obligations. Practical guidance addresses risk management, capital planning, talent acquisition, and collaborative ecosystems. Positioned for entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers, the chapter argues that new ventures, unencumbered by legacy liabilities, are well placed to capture fast-emerging opportunities and shape the trillion-dollar global space economy. By integrating commercialisation strategy with policy, engineering, and finance, it offers an evidence-based roadmap for starting and scaling competitive space start-ups.