The Department of Commerce has called on the financial sector to provide “better financing and insurance†for the space industry, Space News reported Wednesday.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the agency hopes to boost the overall space economy.
“There continues to be strong and growing venture capital equity funding for the space industry. But missing from space finance are the bigger institutions, especially banks,†he said. “Their participation will be necessary to execute longer-term commercial plans.â€
In mid-December, the agency hosted a seminar in Washington gathering representatives from space companies and the financial sector to encourage additional investment and address the challenges to secure finance for the space industry. Ross said the Commerce Department is also utilizing its Office of Space Commerce to provide investors with more data on the industry.Â
“We think that there’s a real ignorance barrier that we need to help overcome in order to facilitate lending,†he said. “We need to come up with a group of metrics here so that people can figure out what they have to do to get to the next level of value.â€
The agency proposed a Space Policy Advancing Commercial Enterprise Administration to Congress to manage commercial space operations as part of President Trump’s Space Policy Directive-2 in May.Â
