Can Donald Trump and Elon Musk send British space companies into space?

Donald Trump’s return to the White House is “great news” for Britain’s fast-growing space companies, a senior industry figure has said.

The president-elect – who is close to space entrepreneur and Tesla boss Elon Musk – could increase spending in the sector in a way that would send global ripples through the industry.

Musk – who has been called Trump’s ‘first friend’ – founded Space

Mark Boggett, CEO of global space investment company Seraphim Space, told the Mail that Musk’s position in Trump’s inner circle “will pay off well for the NASA budget.”

‘He expects this to be in line with the magnate’s ambition to ‘accelerate the path to removing humans from planet Earth’.

And the benefits of this “won’t just be limited to the American players,” Boggett added.

Some of the world’s richest billionaires – including Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and British entrepreneur Richard Branson – are competing to send tourists into space with the 53-year-old Musk, and even aim to build a colony on Mars.

But the space race also includes improving communications through satellite links, strengthening defenses and increasing research in areas such as climate change.

Musk and Space

Seraphim Space is a London-listed investment trust valued at £127 million. It invests in space technology companies including D-Orbit, HawkEye 360, LeoLabs and PlanetWatchers.

Boggett said the industry will likely benefit from higher defense spending and Trump’s partnership with Musk.

Trump has demanded higher military spending from all European NATO member states. Boggett said, “They don’t want to bear the costs of being the world’s policeman.”

He said rising defense budgets will inevitably lead to an increased focus on space — either through traditional government agencies or through innovative private companies such as Space X.

Due to the ‘dual use’ nature of the UK’s aerospace and defense sector, Boggett believes the sector will benefit as the US and Europe ramp up spending.

“The UK has an excellent relationship for companies building and developing aerospace and defense-related capabilities to sell into the US market,” he said.

‘There is a long-standing relationship of trust for British companies selling to the US Department of Defense.’

The war in Ukraine has already led to an increase in defense budgets, and Boggett believes additional spending is now finding its way into the space market.

“This massive refocus on defense has already created a lot of positivity in the space market,” he said.

With investors backing companies that are poised to benefit from a surge in spending, Boggett said, the sector is seeing renewed interest.

He said a ‘healthy interest in space technology over the past five quarters’ and said growing confidence among investors should ‘bring more capital to the entrepreneurs’ – including those at the helm of Britain’s space companies.

Boggett said the 18 companies within Seraphim’s investment fund are growing their revenues at an average rate of 17 percent per year, with the majority of this coming from new contracts in the defense market.

Now that Trump is back in power, he expects the “already accelerating” industry to take “another step up.”

The president-elect has made it clear that his space agenda will be “America First,” and Boggett admits that his relationship with Musk is “really leveraging an advantage that they already have.”

But as Trump and Musk push to maintain “American supremacy” in space, Boggett expects Britain to benefit.

He said Britain has been “punching above its weight for decades” in space investment and ranks third after the US and China.

While the US wants “access to the best of breed,” it does not have the rights to the best technology.

“This is where Britain proves itself by supporting companies and financing companies that have the unique capabilities the US needs,” Boggett said.

He called on the government to seize this moment, saying it must “make itself clear on how it will deal with this opportunity that has presented itself.”

These opportunities will also extend across Europe, Boggett suggests, as the continent appears to be “standing on its own two feet when it comes to both space and defense.”

Boggett said this would involve ‘significant investment’, which bodes well for Britain. Global growth in the space sector is already leading to increased competition.

Data collected by Seraphim Space shows that Chinese investments in space technology overtook the US in the first half of the year.

While this returned in the third quarter as US investment reached £2.1bn to date, compared to £1.7bn in China, Boggett stressed that ‘this really shines a light on how competitive the Chinese government is in the important space market ‘.

Because of Britain’s relationship with the US, Boggett believes the country will play a “critical role in space” as Trump looks to remain on top.

However, he also warned that despite the short-term optimism for UK businesses, there remains “a question mark” over the longer-term impact.

He predicts ‘significant opportunities’ for UK space companies selling into the US market, but worries about the rise in mergers and acquisitions with the US ‘effectively the primary buyer’.