Dual-use technology is an important concept to understand. It refers to technology that can be used for both civilian and military purposes. Think nuclear fission, the internet, and GPS, or satellites that can be used for military reconnaissance and to deliver internet to off-the-grid customers.
The main benefit of dual use technologies is that they can command the government funding needed for the capital intensive early research and development (R&D) phase as well as the commercial market demand that incentivizes competition, cost improvements, and innovation. No private company could have funded the creation of GPS, and no government could have used it to create Uber.
Similarly, SpaceX has benefited from $15.3 billion in government funding and contracts over the past two decades, which it has used to build a business that’s strong enough to both stand on its own and support a flourishing space economy.
Today, SpaceX has its own two uses which support each other: SpaceX and Starlink. SpaceX is able to build bigger and bigger rockets, and fill them with revenue-generating cargo, because Starlink is able to sell into the practically bottomless market for communications. Starlink is able to launch so many satellites because of the cheap launches provided by SpaceX’s bigger and bigger rockets. Together, they’re spinning a flywheel that makes it exceedingly difficult for any launch or satellite company to catch up.
Comments
No posts