Until recently, space transportation meant one thing: launch. A few companies, a handful of rockets, and an expensive ticket to orbit—if you were lucky.

Today, that’s still true. Most transportation in space is about getting things to space: satellites, scientific payloads, the occasional astronaut. Launch is infrequent and capital-intensive. Once delivered, objects mostly stay put. There is no logistics network, no real mobility once you’re up there.

But over the next 50 years, this will change dramatically. And for entrepreneurs, this evolution is full of opportunity.

The Shift: From Access to Mobility

As space becomes more populated—with stations, habitats, depots, platforms, telescopes, and outposts—the need to move between them grows. The logistics challenge shifts from launching things from Earth to moving things in space.

Soon we’ll need vehicles and services to transport:

1. People: technicians, scientists, builders, explorers.
2. Cargo: tools, spare parts, life support, manufacturing feedstock.
3. Fuel: for spacecraft and stations, possibly sourced from the Moon or asteroids.
4. Manufactured goods: 3D-printed structures or rare materials returning to Earth.
5. Waste and recyclables: in a closed-loop ecosystem, nothing goes to waste—or floats away.

In short, we’ll need in-space transportation that is reusable, modular, reliable, and eventually autonomous.

What Might That Look Like?

Just as Earth has a layered system of transportation (planes, trucks, trains, ports), space will too. Over time, we can imagine:

1. Orbital shuttles between Earth orbit and cislunar space.
2. Reusable lunar landers servicing Moon bases and science outposts.
3. Tugs and space taxis moving cargo and people between platforms.
4. Space trains—slow, efficient vehicles traversing stable orbits on predictable loops.
5. Autonomous drones for inspection, repair, and remote cargo transfers.
6. Fuel depots and maintenance stations at strategic orbital hubs.

Where Entrepreneurs Come In

This emerging transportation ecosystem is not just an engineering challenge—it’s a business frontier.

New markets are forming around:

1. Logistics and scheduling platforms for in-space mobility.
2. Spaceport and depot services—fuel, maintenance, data, repair.
3. In-space assembly and manufacturing—building what can’t be launched whole.
4. Propellant extraction and storage—especially on the Moon.
5. Passenger services and orbital tourism, starting with short-duration stays.
6. Space insurance, risk modelling, and asset tracking.

Just as railroads transformed Earth-bound economies, space transportation will unlock a space-based economy. The first startups are already forming—many small, fast, and hungry. This is where science, engineering, and business collide.

Final Thoughts

If you’re joining this summer school to explore space entrepreneurship, keep in mind: we are still at the stagecoach phase of space mobility. But the infrastructure, ambition, and vision for a transportation revolution are already taking shape.

Someone will build the roads of space. Why not you?

By Pedro Lacerda

Related Links and Examples

Launch and Vehicles

1. SpaceX Starship — Fully reusable spacecraft designed for Earth orbit, Moon, Mars, and beyond.
2. Rocket Lab Neutron — Medium-lift, reusable rocket optimized for constellation deployment and human spaceflight.
3. Blue Origin New Glenn — Heavy-lift reusable launch vehicle targeting commercial and government markets.

Orbital Infrastructure and Services

1. Orbit Fab — “Gas stations in space” offering in-orbit refueling for satellites and spacecraft.
2. Momentus Space — In-space transportation and last-mile delivery solutions for satellites.
3. Dawn Aerospace — Developing reusable spaceplanes and satellite propulsion systems.

In-space Assembly and Manufacturing

1. Redwire Space — Focused on in-space manufacturing, including 3D printing aboard the ISS.
2. Varda Space Industries — Building factories in orbit to produce high-value materials in microgravity.

Surface and Lunar Systems

1. Lunar Outpost — Developing mobile robotic systems and environmental monitoring tools for the Moon and Mars.
2. Astrobotic — Lunar delivery and surface mobility services using their Peregrine and Griffin landers.
3. Intuitive Machines — Lunar access and communication relay solutions, part of NASA’s CLPS program.

Servicing, Refueling & Orbital Logistics

1. Northrop Grumman Mission Extension Vehicle — Satellite servicing that extends the life of existing spacecraft.
2. ClearSpace — In-orbit servicing and debris removal for sustainable space operations.
3. Impulse Space — Developing orbital transfer vehicles and landers for cislunar and planetary missions.

Infrastructure & Ecosystem Coordination

1. The Spaceport Company — Modular sea-based spaceport systems for rapid launch operations.
2. LeoLabs and Neuraspace— Real-time tracking of space objects to ensure safe space traffic management.
3. Exotrail — End-to-end mobility solutions for small satellites, including propulsion and mission planning.