Investing in Space: Deloitte formalizes its space consulting business, with an eye on growth

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The space industry keeps growing, and global consulting groups aren't ones to be left behind. 

This week saw Big 4 firm Deloitte formalize its space consulting services, even as other consulting giants like McKinsey, BCG and Bain compete for pieces of the space pie.

I caught up with Brett Loubert, Deloitte Consulting principal and leader of the new space group's government and public sector efforts, to learn a bit more about how consulting firms are thinking through the sector opportunity.

Space is "increasingly important" to companies and governments, whether they're operating in the domain or not, Loubert said, and there's a "general excitement that it generates both internally and externally." While he noted the genesis of Deloitte Space traces back over 15 years, its formalization now is the culmination of about five years of pushing further into space "to bring together the full breadth of our capabilities."

 Loubert breaks the space consulting opportunity into two areas: Space as a mission or business, and space as a growth opportunity. The former represents clients that are designing and launching systems into orbit, or those where their primary product or service is space-based, or have a dedicated business unit focused on space. The latter, however, presents perhaps the more lucrative potential:

"That second group and sort of framing is a way that I think we're getting excited, again, both internally and externally, around not only what the industry looks like today, but what it is enabling for almost every other industry that we operate in," Loubert said.

He added that he feels like a lot of his job is helping "demystify" the question of "what is space," and sees more work to be done in how the space industry is marketing use cases of products and services to other industries.

Asked about the concerns or risks Loubert sees for the sector – such as Virgin Orbit's bankruptcy, consolidation among major satellite communications players, or the difficulty of raising capital in the current macroeconomic environment – he said that space is "like any other industry," with expected "ups and downs." But the biggest difference today is that, while historically governments have generated much of space's growth and innovation, the private sector has taken the baton. 

 Loubert said general estimates that the space economy could reach $1 trillion by 2040 are "conservative," since that represents a compound annual growth rate of just 5% to 6%.

 What you're seeing now, he said, is more and more space companies "closing" the deal. 

 "I think what you're seeing on the private industry side is a lot of the sort of space business cases are closing or they can be projected to close," Loubert said.

For more on consulting and space, I'll be sitting down on April 18 with McKinsey Senior Partner Ryan Brukardt at Space Symposium in Colorado. See you there!

• Virgin Orbit fails to secure funding and files for bankruptcy, laying off nearly its entire workforce in the process. The rocket builder filed for Chapter 11 protection after CEO Dan Hart told employees that Virgin Orbit was ceasing operations "for the foreseeable future." In an email on his final day, Virgin Orbit COO Tony Gingiss called out company leadership for failures and issued a lengthy apology to employees, with the company eliminating 675 positions. – CNBC / CNBC / CNBC / CNBC
• SpaceX completes 22nd launch of the year flying the Space Development Agency's Tranche 0 mission, carrying 10 satellites in the first step of the broader constellation. SDA director Derek Tournear said communications with all three satellites was established three days after launch. – Department of Defense / SpaceNews
• NASA unveils the four astronauts for Artemis 2 who will fly on the mission around the moon in 2024. The spaceflight will carry three Americans and one Canadian: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch from NASA, and Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency. – CNBC
• SpaceX nears Starship orbital launch attempt this month: The company is in the final stages of preparing its Starship rocket and Super Heavy booster for the launch, while it awaits an FAA license for approval. – Watch more
• Los Angeles startup Astrolab announces FLEX lunar rover: The company plans to build a fleet of the FLEX rovers, and signed an agreement with SpaceX to transport the first one to the moon on a Starship mission. – Astrolab / SpaceNews
• New Zealand based Dawn Aerospace completes initial rocket-powered flights of spaceplane, with its Mk-II Aurora completing three low-altitude test flights. The company aims to use its spaceplane to fly to 100 kilometers altitude into space. – Dawn
• Momentus successfully test fires Vigoride-5 thruster in space, a key milestone for the company's water-based technology. – Momentus
• Maxar demonstrates new 16-foot robotic space arm, in a test of the SPIDER (Space Infrastructure Dexterous Robot) to complete tasks such as assembling or reconfiguring a spacecraft while in orbit. – Maxar
• Seattle suburb establishes 'space district:' Redmond, Washington, has increasingly become a hotbed of space talent with facilities of companies like SpaceX and Amazon, and created the new district to represent its growth. – GeekWire
• Republican House science and space committee members call for NASA headquarters to crack down on remote work: The representatives sent a letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, saying that "only 31% of NASA employees" at HQ were reporting for in-person work as of January. – House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Republicans
• NASA policy discourages naming missions after individuals, with heightened requirements after the controversy surrounding the naming of the James Webb Space Telescope. – SpaceNews
• Apex to fly first Aries-based spacecraft on a SpaceX Transporter mission in January 2024, the company announced, calling it "the fastest founding-to-launch of any spacecraft in the Aries size class."  – Apex
• A new RAND study finds 'significant work remains' in human spaceflight regulation, with the congressionally requested research coming up with recommended changes to existing and often proprietary safety practices. – Rand

• Colorado based startup True Anomaly emerges from stealth, raising $30 million to date to fund its plans to build spacecraft and software tailored to Space Force needs. Its first spacecraft is the Jackal Autonomous Orbital Vehicle, and it plans to begin production later this year. – True Anomaly
• Spire awarded NRO contract extension for commercial radio frequency data. The company had previously won an National Reconnaissance Office award, with the agency exercising two options through to March 2025. – Spire
• Spire signs deal with Switzerland-based ch-aviation for an undisclosed amount to "supply global flight analytics and insights that will enhance its airline intelligence database." – Spire
• Lockheed Martin selected as 'preferred bidder' by Australian Defence Force program for communications satellites and supporting infrastructure. – SpaceNews
• D-Orbit lands $28 million (€26 million) contract from the European Space Agency for the IRIDE satellite, a synthetic aperture radar spacecraft that D-Orbit will provide and manage. – D-Orbit

• Doug Beck, a former Apple VP, named as DIU director, taking the helm of the Pentagon division. – DIU
• ArianeGroup, which builds the rockets that Arianespace launches, names Martin Sion as its new CEO. Sion was previously CEO of Safran Electronics & Defense. The previous ArianeGroup CEO Andre-Hubert Roussel reportedly stepped down late last month. – ArianeGroup / Reuters
• Eric Williams hired by Momentus as CFO, taking over from interim CFO Dennis Mahoney. – Momentus
• Leslie Hildebrand joins Slingshot Aerospace as SVP of government business development and strategy from Lockheed Martin, where she led the defense giant's space security team's strategy and business development as director. – Slingshot
• Justin Kugler joins Intuitive Machines as director of business development, after leaving Redwire earlier this year. – Kugler
• Sirisha Bandla named as chair of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, with the Virgin Galactic VP taking the helm of the organization's board of directors, taking over from Caryn Schenewerk. – CSF
• Charles Hannaford joins ALL.SPACE as Chief Development Officer, coming to the role after 13 years at SES. – ALL.SPACE
• Caleb Henry appointed to the executive team of Patti Grace Smith Fellowship, a nonprofit dedicated to improving diversity in the space industry. Henry, director of research at Quilty Analytics, succeeds retired astronaut Col. B. Alvin Drew, Jr. on the PGS team. – PGS Fellowship
• Jeremy Schiel leaves Orbit Fab, departing his role as Chief Development Officer. The Orbit Fab cofounder said it was a difficult decision that was made due to a family health emergency. – Schiel

• AST SpaceMobile cash burn continued in Q4, with first commercial satellites further delayed. The satellite broadband company reported fourth-quarter results with an adjusted operating expenses of $39.1 million, up slightly quarter-over-quarter from $38.5 million. It also disclosed its first five Block 1 BlueBird satellites are now scheduled to launch in first quarter 2024. The company had $239.3 million in cash at the end of 2022. – AST SpaceMobile / AST SpaceMobile

• Apr. 7: SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches Intelsat 40e communications satellite from Florida.
• Apr. 11: SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches Transporter 7 rideshare mission from California.
• Apr. 12-13: Planet "Explore 2023" event in Washington, D.C.