In this episode, we’ll be diving right into the dynamics of the space sector, space commerce, space business, space industry, space market, and the fundamental forces driving their development. It’s a great pleasure to welcome Matthew Weinzierl, an associate Professor in the Business, Government, and the International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School. Matthew has worked for McKinsey & Company, and the US government as an economist on The White House Council of Economic Advisors. While much of Professor Weinzierl’s early research focused on the optimal design of economic policy, in particular taxation, he has recently launched an array of projects focused on the commercialization of the space sector and its economic implications. Matthew, together with his Harvard Business School team, have published multiple case studies just this past year: on Space X and Economies of Scale along with Made in Space and the business of In-Space Manufacturing, all of this along with an article emphatically proclaiming: “The Commercial Space Age is Here” in the Harvard Business Review. CONTENT 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:50 Harvard Business School Case Studies Part 1 00:04:30 Niels Bohr & and defining the space market, space commerce, space business 00:05:59 Two different economies: Space for Earth, Space for Space 00:09:57 Deconstructing the space sector & Self Organization of markets 00:12:24 Rockets don’t scale | Space Elevator 00:15:18 Scaling and populating space 00:17:35 Who is paying for it and why? 00:21:18 Analogies to historical IT and Telecommunications market development 00:23:44 Industrial Economics in space 00:30:31 Spire Global | Going from globalisation to solar-system-ization 00:32:31 Blockchain, NFT, Smart Contracts for products from space 00:34:37 Is there a need for an international Space Trade Institution? 00:36:04 HBS Case Study Part 2 | Made in Space 00:38:24 Space Killer Apps Part 1 00:39:25 Closed Loops, 3D-Printers, and The Star Trek Replicator 00:41:34 Is there a business case for Resource Extraction in space 00:44:19 Space Killer Apps Part 2 00:45:48 Up-and-comers in the space sector 00:47:10 Space Economics in the context of rational human behavior 00:50:00 Strongest disagreement between the space economists 00:51:36 Why space at all?