Daily Archives: September 4, 2021

Virgin Galactic could be setting up for a sustained move higher.

Jefferies initiated coverage of the space travel stock with a buy rating on Tuesday, sending shares nearly 9% higher in the day's trading. On average, analysts covering the stock see roughly 28% upside for the name, with the highest price target sitting 87% above Wednesday's levels.

With the company solidifying its position in space tourism having sent its founder, Richard Branson, on a historic space flight in July its stock is becoming more attractive for longer-term buyers, Simpler Trading director of options Danielle Shay told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Tuesday.

"We can look at it as an investment, although risky, of course," Shay said.

"With this company in particular, I'm looking at this five to 10 years down the line," she said. "They're the first in this space, they're the first people that are actually offering space flights to consumers, and I do believe in the long term [the stock is] going to blow up."

Shay's first target was $35, roughly 28% above where Virgin Galactic was trading midday Wednesday.

"If you could get through 35, then I would look to a return to previous highs," she said. "But once you really start seeing more reservations and actually more flights come through, that is when the stock could really take off."

Virgin Galactic's all-time high was $62.80. The stock was trading just above $27 on Wednesday.

Another trader wasn't so eager to jump in.

"The long-term narrative is certainly interesting. I would be wary here," Nancy Tengler of Laffer Tengler Investments said in the same interview.

Not only would all of Jefferies' assumptions 660 flights per year and $1.7 billion in revenue by 2030 need to come to fruition for Virgin Galactic stock to really take off, but some of the "smart money" has also moved elsewhere, said Tengler, her firm's chief investment officer.

She pointed to chairman Chamath Palihapitiya selling his entire personal stake in the company in March and Branson's sale of a large chunk of his stake in August.

"I'm a little suspicious because there's a lot of enthusiasm, but when it comes time for people to put money down for their reservation right now they can just make a reservation I think we'll get a better sense of whether or not the estimates that Jefferies has come up with are in fact realistic," Tengler said.

Virgin Galactic announced plans to reopen ticket sales in its August earnings report. Prices begin at $450,000 per seat.

Disclosure: Danielle Shay owns shares of Virgin Galactic.

Disclaimer

Go here to read the rest:

Virgin Galactic 'could really take off' if it breaks above this level, trader says as space stock gets analyst love - CNBC

Mashrur Ahmed Zidane | Published: September 04, 2021 00:04:36

We have all grown up watching space operas and space movies through which we have been fascinated by the idea of life beyond earth and the life of astronauts who have the privilege of doing space travels. Ever since the American astronaut Neil Armstrong put his foot on the moon, as the first human in the year of 1969, the fiction started to seem like a reality for many nations. Kalpana Chawla, from India, was one such dreamer who was able to fulfill her fantasy to visit the outer space. She was one of the most brilliant minds and the first Indian woman to go to outer space. Aboard her second flight however, which was named flight STS-107 carried by the Space Shuttle Columbia, hot atmospheric air entered the shuttle wing, as it re-entered into the Earth's atmosphere. This had damaged the shuttle wings during take-off which resulted in the shuttle breaking apart and killing all seven crew members, including Kalpana Chawla. But many, including her father, believe that Kalpana had been part of a conspiracy and NASA knew about it, all along that Columbia was destined for a disaster. Now the question might come as to how a person an be held responsible if he/she commits an act of crime in the outer space.In the 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, nations have ensured that they have legal jurisdictions well beyond the planet Earth. The Article VIII of the treaty specifically points out: "Whenever one nation that is a party to the treaty launches an object such as a spacecraft, satellite or space station into space, or builds one on a celestial body, that nation retains jurisdiction and control over it." So therefore, if for example, an US astronaut is accused of committing a crime such as a murder in outer space while the person is travelling by a NASA spacecraft or a commercial space vehicle which has been launched from the USA, the federal prosecutors or even the FBI would be able to arrest the accused person. The person can be brought back to earth for federal trial. But what will happen when there is a crime or a murder occurring in the International Space Station and when the accused is a murderer and the victims are citizens of two different countries?This provision is covered under Article 22 of the Intergovernmental Agreement of 1998, which is between the United States of America and other nations. The article states that such an issue could be solved through the process of consultation between the nations. But given the fact that companies such as Blue Origin and Space X are rapidly expanding plans to turn space travel into a reality, the day is not far when we might see a crime happening inside an orbital private sector hotel. Since the private sector would be making profit as their first priority rather than screening the individuals who are sent to space as NASA or other organisations do, chances of crime occurring in space are very high. Also, provided the fact that people from different nationalities are involved, in the development of the hotel once again in accordance with the 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, diplomatic negotiations are the only way to solve the issue of space crimes. If we revert to the case of Kalpana Chawla and the said conspiracy theory and compare it to a hypothetical scenario, an astronaut on a space walk may decide to cut off another astronaut's tether. In that case, the victim could spin off and possibly be drawn back to the Earth's atmosphere, where the person would be burned to death. In this case no nation can have a jurisdiction because the act would have occurred beyond an object or a celestial body controlled by a nation. This proves the need of the development of space laws but however every person who is going to the outer space has a national citizenship and therefore, it falls under the responsibility of the launching state, or of their state of citizenship, to make that person accountable for their actions in the outer space and do justice to that person.The complexity of Space crime, especially murder, arises when the accused person is brought on trial, because in that scenario there needs to be enough evidence which goes beyond reasonable doubt to prove that the particular person is guilty. In this case, Space Cops may be a good idea, to help the prosecution with the matter at hand but it would be an extremely costly affair, since space travel is very costly. In a time when space travel is in the process of becoming a reality, when missions to Mars seem only decades away, the International Community needs to come together to rewrite some of the laws in regards to outer space. Otherwise, the judges will have to take statutes and legal standards that were developed on Earth to deal with murder and other such crimes in the outer space. Even though there exists an inter-governmental organisation, namely United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) which promotes and facilitates peaceful international cooperation in outer space, the space laws are in need of a great amount of development for a better and safe future, beyond this planet.

See more here:

The legal jurisdiction in outer space - The Financial Express BD

The sartorial decisions of astronauts are hardly labour-intensive. You have to wear a spacesuit and that is pretty much that. Clearly miffed by such restrictions, Jeff Bezos decided to go very big on his accoutrements when he blasted into space in July. Following his 11-minute flight, the tech titan stepped from his spacecraft onto the desert earth of west Texas in uncharacteristic garb. Bezos wore a cowboy hat and boots, presumably to labour the point about space being the last frontier.

Cranking up the symbolism, he then posed for pictures holding the goggles of female aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. On his wrist, meanwhile, Bezos wore an Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Master Chronometer.

Jeff Bezos, in cowboy hat and Amelia Earhart goggles, has his eyes set on conquering space. Credit:Getty Images

To be fair, this was an unimpeachable choice, with Omega renowned as the watch brand that first conquered space. In the early 1960s, NASA bought a range of chronographs from different brands in a bid to find the most reliable watch for their astronauts. The watches were subjected to the most rigorous trials in the history of horology. The Speedmaster was the only one to pass.

Understandably, Omega has milked this lunar connection ever since and many Speedmaster models bear casebacks with the engraving: Flight Qualified for all Manned Space Missions. But theyre hardly the only watch brand to be fascinated with outer space. This year, Rolex released an Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona with a dial hewn from a 600 million-year-old meteorite. Other watches to have left the earths orbit include the Breitling Navitimer and the Seiko Pogue 6139.

This eagerness to shoot for the moon is driven by the positive brand associations. Space travel demonstrates a watchs technical resilience, while astronauts are intrepid figures that exude all the right stuff. Watches and space are therefore a marriage made, if not in heaven, then slightly below it, among the stars.

Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Master Chronometer; Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona; Breitling Navitimer.

Loading

But its hard to overlook the fact that in the 21st century, a watch is less a time-telling device than a conspicuous status signifier. And space is the ultimate flex.

We can all see the moon, but for most of us its forever out of reach. Perhaps thats why so many of the worlds richest men Bezos, Elon Musk, Richard Branson are ploughing millions into launching their rockets. Any bog-standard oligarch can own a superyacht. To show you truly operate on the next level, the stakes are no longer sky-high, theyre intergalactic.

Go here to see the original:

The ultimate flex: why watch brands are driven by the new space race - Sydney Morning Herald

The space race is back on, but this time it is commercial companies battling it out rather than Cold War rivals the US and the Soviet Union, while investors are placing their bets on the winners in the hope of generating rocket-fuelled returns.

The so-called SpaceTech sector remains the final frontier for investors but with big names such as Jeff Bezos Blue Origin, Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic and Elon Musks SpaceX commercialising space travel and commandeering attention, it is impossible to ignore.

Around $6.4 billion was invested in SpaceTech in the first half of 2021 the equivalent to 85 per cent of investment for the whole of 2020, according to new research from Seraphim.

The pace of growth is accelerating of this, $3.7bn was in the second quarter, up from $2.7bn in the first.

The space industrial revolution is demonstrably in full swing as 34 rockets launched 573 satellites during the second quarter, Seraphim says.

This is the most exciting new frontier of them all but, as ever with a hot new sector, investors must beware the hype or risk of getting sucked into an investment black hole.

Private equity funds and venture capitalists are pouring money into space travel, satellite communications, telecoms, Earth imaging and aerospace.

Before 2021, just six space companies had gone public, raising a combined $800 million. So far this year, 12 space-related businesses have announced special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) mergers, representing more than $7bn of investment, Seraphim says.

Private investors can now get a share of the action, with two notable space investment fund launches this year.

Star fund manager Cathie Wood, chief investment officer and chief executive of ARK Investment Management, launched the ARK Space Exploration and Innovation ETF in March, targeting the SpaceTech space.

Ms Wood is famed for investing in disruptive innovation and sees the two biggest opportunities in satellite mobile connectivity, which could give 3.5 billion people mobile access for the first time, and hypersonic flights that could carry passengers from New York to Japan or Australia in two hours.

The ARK Space Exploration and Innovation ETF's top holdings include global navigation satellite specialist Trimble and autonomous drone firm Kratos Defence, as well as defence giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

However, some of the ETF's holdings may surprise for example, it holds farm machinery manufacturer John Deere, which is using satellite technology to improve precision agriculture and guide autonomous vehicles.

Ms Wood held a small position in Virgin Galactic at launch and has since offloaded her entire holding amid widespread scepticism about the commercial potential of space tourism.

Investors are boldly going where few have gone before and should only chance a small part of their portfolio

Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell

The Seraphim Space Investment Trust IPO, a London-listed investment trust launched last month, gives private investors exposure to a portfolio of early and growth stage SpaceTech firms.

It raised 180m ($247.6m) in an oversubscribed IPO, beating its target of 150m, another sign of growing interest in the sector.

The trust will target sector leaders in areas such as climate, communications, mobility and cyber security, whose first mover advantages give them the potential to dominate globally, chief executive Mark Boggett says.

The $366bn space industry is experiencing a revolution, led by SpaceX, he adds.

Privately financed companies are advancing radical changes and creating a new data and connectivity ecosystem that is about to transform the world.

Space is no longer just the preserve for billionaires, with 100,000 satellites set to be launched over the next decade, a giant leap from 3,700 today, Mr Boggett says. Low-cost access to space is a reality with innovations such as reusable rockets and miniaturised satellites, while the cost of building and launching a satellite has fallen by a factor of more than a hundred.

Demand for space-related technologies will increase dramatically in the era of driverless cars, robotics, smart cities and the Internet of Things. Space will effectively become a digital platform in the sky."

Seraphim invests in 15 seed assets, including AST SpaceMobile, which is building a space-based cellular broadband network, ChAl, which forecasts commodity prices using data such as satellite imagery, and Earth observation company Satellite Vu.

It plans to invest a further 100m in another four ventures: satellite data specialist Spire Global, quantum encryption firm Arqit, Earth imaging operator Iceye and space logistics firm D-orbit.

Seraphim's success highlights the sheer demand for space-related investments, Samuel Leach, director of Samuel & Co Trading, says. "I believe these IPOs will become more common, as demand far outweighs supply. Seraphim gives investors unparalleled early access to SpaceTech companies with huge potential that could shape an economic revolution.

Space is open for business but it is also a step into the unknown, Mr Leach says. "As with any transformative sector, it can be tricky identifying which investments will pay off and which could fizzle out.

Meanwhile, the lunacy of space tourism, with billionaires vying to fly into space, has detracted from the sustainability benefits of SpaceTech, Malcom McPartlin, co-manager of the Aegon Global Sustainable Equity Fund, says

Yet a raft of positive developments lie behind this display of egoism that could help drive efforts to make the world a greener place, Mr McPartlin says.

billionaire businessman Jeff Bezos embraces veteran aviator Wally Funk after Blue Origins reusable New Shepard craft capsule returned from space on Tuesday, July 20, 2021.

He hails the concept of reusable rockets, pioneered by SpaceX, and the continued miniaturisation of technology. We expect to see this paradigm shift in the cost of SpaceTech to lead to a wave of disruptive products and services.

Sustainability benefits include delivering satellite-based connectivity to billions. This would make a massive difference to education, trade and economic prosperity in the developing world.

It could also provide a more powerful global view of climate data and environmental science, creating more effective climate action and better environmental, social and governance reporting.

The next time we see a billionaire fly past in their latest space toy, we can take comfort that we have achieved something more worthwhile with space, McPartlin adds.

There are two types of space companies, Rmy Asti, founder and chief executive of investment platform Vauban, says. First, there are software companies, which mostly use existing satellite data for commercial purposes, so do not require much infrastructure and should be treated like any other software developer.

What he calls real space companies are risker because they demand huge sums of capital, yet the market is small and demand is limited at present. "The ability to scale and become profitable is still not there, he argues.

Low-cost access to space is a reality with innovations such as reusable rockets and miniaturised satellites, while the cost of building and launching a satellite has fallen by a factor of more than a hundred

Mark Boggett, chief executive of Seraphim Space Investment Trust IPO

Mr Asti urges caution amid the frenzy. As with any market in its infancy, the risks are high and the potential for financial reward might still be many years off.

The danger here is obvious. Every time a new theme comes into favour, it also has the danger of crashing just as fast.

Some investors have spotted a different opportunity here. Short-sellers have now placed $2.7bn in bets against Cathie Wood's flagship ARK Innovation ETF, according to S3 Partners.

Tuttle Capital Management has even gone as far as filing for an inverse ARK ETF that will replicate the opposite of its performance.

Last year, ARK Innovation returned a stellar 152.52 per cent, yet its trajectory has slowed in 2021 as value stocks came back into favour and growth fell out. The ETF is only up 5.05 per cent year to date, against 21.24 per cent on the S&P 500.

Space tourism profitability may be light years away, but more down-to-earth applications such as collecting data and providing greater internet connectivity can provide revenues here and now, Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at online investment platform AJ Bell, says.

Both ARK Innovation and ARK Space Exploration and Innovation are high risk by design. While that can clearly lead to big gains if disruptive innovations take root, it can mean commensurate losses if they dont, he says.

Mr Khalaf describes space exploration as a niche theme within the risky technology sector.

"Investors are boldly going where few have gone before and should only chance a small part of their portfolio.

Updated: August 30th 2021, 5:00 AM

More here:

Can investing in space give you rocket-fuelled returns? - The National

"Not every shooting star is romantic," says Gernot Groemer.

After all, the glowing objects burning up in the sky as they re-enter the atmosphere are not necessarily meteorites heading to Earth.

Thanks to modern science, they might instead be capsules stuffed with trash, perhaps even astronauts' underwear, from the International Space Station (ISS), heading for a controlled crash landing.

But Groemer and his team of scientists at the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) and the Vienna Textile Lab (VTL) are doing their best to make sure that the next shooting star you spot isn't just a bucket of space-frozen astronaut underwear.

Their goal is to make sure the underwear astronauts wear can be worn for longer, and thrown away less frequently, while still promoting hygiene.

It's a pressing problem. Space missions in general and space walks in particular are becoming more commonplace and lasting longer. If something isn't done to ensure microbes don't fester in people's unmentionables, flights to the moon, Mars and beyond could be endangered.

"The more time we spend in new capacities in manned space stations, the more unpleasant experiences we are likely to face," says Groemer.

Until now, astronauts have worn their underwear for a few days and then disposed of it. Outer space missions involve the traveller first putting on a diaper, followed by their personal underwear. Then comes a third layer, which helps with cooling. But this is shared between crew members and is not washed between uses.Helping astronauts' underwear stay cleaner for longer is one way to keep space clean. Photo: James Blair/Nasa-Jsc/dpa

"That's particularly problematic for hygiene," says Groemer. The material currently in use contains bacteria-fighting silver threads, but that's not an ideal long-term solution as there are potential side effects.

The European Space Agency, which contracted the problem to the OeWF, is hoping new ideas will be found by 2023, which is why the OeWF called on the VTL for help.

VTL is a small Vienna-based start-up that had the idea of fighting fire with fire, or letting dangerous bacteria be contained by the excretions of other bacteria.

The trick now is to see how this method can be employed under the specialised conditions of space.

"There's a very unique microbiome that operates in space. There's no balance like on Earth," says VTL boss and chemist Karin Fleck.

According to Scott Kelly, a United States astronaut who spent significant time in space, the air on the ISS does not smell good: it's a mix of disinfectant, trash and sweat.

Astronauts also run a higher risk of skin disease, as in zero gravity, sweat disperses differently on the body, according to Fleck. That means textiles that can keep bacteria in check are needed in more areas than just underwear.

In principle, that means space services should be thinking about complete outfits and important items like gloves, says Fleck. Her group's testing also considers how the materials will react with moon dust or to radiation, she notes.

"We're at least confident that it works," she says.

There is also interest in this area of work on Earth, too. Talks are already under way with textile producers, says Groemer. After all, lots of people are interested in keeping underwear fresher for longer, as this would help the environment.

The textile teams are hoping to learn more from their own teams of ground-based astronauts who simulate space-based jobs on earth in full spacesuits. A recent project saw them working in the Negev desert in Israel.

The OeWF has already carried out 12 such missions.

"Austria has some niches of expertise when it comes to space travel," Groemer said.The work is important, as Mir space station shows the harm that bacteria and fungus can do, as by the time it was decommissioned, Mir was so polluted with microbes that it was no longer usable.

"Our research isn't so glamorous, but it's important," said Groemer.

Among their next projects is coming up with a washing machine that will work on Mars. One idea is to take the carbon dioxide that is present there to create the necessary moisture, he said.

"That would be the high-tech solution." dpa

See the article here:

Scientists working hard to ensure astronaut underwear cleaner than ever - The Star Online