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If youre at all unsettled by the amount of power that Elon Musk wields on Earth, dont look up. There are now essentially three big players controlling what goes into space and who gets access to increasingly valuable space-based communications and surveillance services: Russia, China, and Elon Musk.In 2024, Musks rocket company SpaceX accounted for more than half of all orbital launch attempts globallymore than all countries outside the U.S. combinedwith 134 successful launches of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. His Starlink constellation of more than 7,000 satellites provides high-speed internet connectivity to more than 4.6 million customers worldwide, including residential users, businesses, federal agencies, and foreign governments. A classified Starlink offshoot, called Starshield, has a contract to provide the U.S. government not only with military-grade communications but space-surveillance capabilities, too.The turbulent global politics of the past few yearsfrom the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the reelection of Donald Trumphave shown the risks of overreliance on any one country (or person) for access to space resources. And in the wake of the administrations breakup with NATO allies, Europe and Canada are accelerating their efforts to achieve space independence, boosted by new investment and cross-border cooperation.Europe has always had a preference to buy local, but [it] didnt always happen, says Justus Kilian, partner at New York City-based venture firm Space Capital. Now that theres an urgency and necessity to develop domestic capabilities, local companies will get strong preference. (Though his firm focuses on North American startups, he says U.S.-based companies can set up shop in Europe to take advantage of the boom.) Jussi Sainiemi, partner at Helsinki-based Voima Ventures, an early-stage deeptech fund thats invested in hyperspectral satellite startup Kuva Space, says that European interest in dual-use technologywith civilian and military applicationshas grown since the start of the war in Ukraine. Now its peaking. Since the Trump administration has indicated decreasing support to Ukraine and Europe, he says, the rise of defense-related investment programs has dominated European news flow.In the next year, governments and companies in Europe and elsewhere will take major steps toward space sovereignty by launching new rockets and rapidly building out satellite constellations in low-Earth orbit. Heres how some of the best-positioned players are chipping away at Musks near monopolies in launch services, communications, and earth monitoring. SpaceX Launch CompetitorsOn March 30, a 92-foot-tall, two-stage Spectrum rocket made by German company Isar Aerospace crashed into the sea off the Norwegian Island of Andoya in spectacular fashion about 40 seconds after taking off. It was the first vertical orbital rocket launch ever attempted from Western Europe. (French company Arianespace launched its missions on behalf of the European Space Agency from French Guiana.) In 2025, there could be several more launch attempts. All will be small-lift rockets designed to get small satellites into low-earth orbitavoiding the hassle of shipping across the Atlantic to get up in space.Daniel Metzler, Isars chief executive and cofounder, called the recent attempt a great successwith a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight, and successful deployment of the rockets Flight Termination System, which safely scraps the flight in case of system failures. The Norwegian space agency has already tapped Isar to launch two Arctic Ocean spy satellites before 2028, assuming it can get its rockets up without exploding.Later this year, the action will move to SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland, Scotland. There, the Scottish startup Orbex Space plans to attempt the first vertical rocket launch into orbit from UK soil. Its U.K.-manufactured rocket, called Orbex Prime, is a two-stage vehicle designed to be reusable, and powered by a renewable bio-fuel that produces 96% lower CO2 emissions than fossil-fuel systems. [Photo: courtesy of RFA]German startup Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) also aims for a 2025 commercial launch of its multistage vehicle from SaxaVord. (These northern launch sites are good for getting imaging satellites into sun-synchronous polar orbits that put them in continuous daylight, which is better for imaging.) Another German company, HyImpulse, hopes to launch its multistage SL1 orbital rocket this year; no launch site has been announced. Isar, Orbex, RFA, and HyImpulse were joint recipients of $48 million in funding from the European Space Agencys (ESA) Boost program in 2024; the German government committed an additional 95 million to Isar, RFA, and HyImpulse.Meanwhile, Rocket Lab, which was founded in New Zealand but is headquartered in Long Beach, CA, continues to offer the most reliable small-lift alternative to SpaceX. The companys Electron rockets have already launched five commercial payloads in 2025, after 15 successful launches in 2024, most from Rocket Labss Complex 1 launch site on New Zealands North Island. It plans to test-launch its larger, medium-lift Neutron rocket later this year. [Photo: Courtesy of Rocket Lab]For larger payloads, European and other international customers can look to future launches of the Ariane 6 heavy-launch rocket, operated by Arianespace and developed in partnership with the ESA and the French national space agency. The Ariene 6 made its second commercial flight this March, lifting off from Europes Spaceport in French Guiana. Five more launches are lanned in 2025. Satellite communications alternativesIt will take time for any competitor to catch up with Starlinks advantage in low-earth-orbit (LEO) broadband satellites. But Europe and Canada are ratcheting up their efforts with some major investments. Funded by the EU, the ESA, and private backers, IRIS2 is an $11.1 billion project to build a constellation of some 290 satellites in low- and medium-earth orbits. The constellation, expected to be operational by 2030, will provide secure and resilient connectivity for government applications and commercial services. IRIS2 is being developed and deployed by three European satellite network operators: Luxembourg-based SES, Madrid-based Hispasat, and Eutelsat. The Paris-based Eutelsats OneWeb subsidiary also happens to be Starlinks biggest competitor in government and commercial markets, with a LEO constellation of nearly 700 satellites. OneWebs constellation is already being used by Ukraines armed forces as a supplementand potential replacementfor Starlink service. In Canada, the Ottawa-based Telesat is aggressively building out its Lightspeed Network, a planned constellation of 198 LEO satellites that will provide high-speed broadband to underserved communities in Canada and beyond, and help governments modernize their satellite communications technology and bolster NATO defense capabilities. Telesat has contracted 14 launches starting in mid-2026 to deploy all of these satellites within a year. The launch provider will be SpaceX. New approaches to monitoring and surveillanceIn early March, the Trump administration abruptly cut off Ukraines access to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agencys (NGA) commercial satellite imagery platform, which had provided the country with images aggregated from commercial providers. (The platform is managed by U.S. aerospace firm Maxar Technologies, which confirmed that it blocked Ukrainian users access.) Access was restored 11 days later, but the episode underscored the need for countries to diversify their sources of satellite intel. Several key players have emerged/are emerging to cater to the interests of anxious democracies in Europe and elsewhere.Founded in 2010, San Francisco-based Planet Labs sells satellite imagery from its constellation of cubesats to customers in industry and government. In the first few months of 2025, the company announced a multiyear contract worth an undisclosed amount with ESA and a $230 million contract with another, unspecified customer in the Asia-Pacific region. Planet operates more than 200 satellites that can image the entire Earth daily, using high-resolution electro-optical sensors, which detect light in the visible spectrum. It launched its first next-gen Pelican-2 satellite, featuring Nvidias Jetson edge AI platform, on a SpaceX rocket this January, part of a planned constellation of 32 such satellites.Iceye Gen 4 [Rendering: Iceye]Interest in imagery from Finnish-Polish satellite maker and operator Iceye is also surging. The companys constellation of microsatellites is equipped with synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which can see through clouds and darkness. Iceye has launched nearly 50 of its satellites into orbit since 2018, including nine in 2024, and plans to launch more than 20 per year in 2025 and subsequent years. Its customers include Ukraines Ministry of Defense, the Greek Space Agency, and the Polish Armament Group, as well as the U.S. Department of Defense. Paris, France SAR images [Image: Iceye]Another Finnish company, Kuva Space, launched its rectangular Hyperfield-1 hyperspectral nanosatellite last July, the first in a planned constellation of 100. Its hyperspectral camera and onboard AI allow it to distinguish Earth materials and conditions based on distinct spectral signatures, and to detect threats and anomalies for defense applications, such as creating an alert if a ship or vessel does not transmit an Automatic Identification System signal. With a second launch this year, the company aims to provide daily observation by 2027 and even more frequent monitoring by 2030. In January 2025, Czech startup TRL Space successfully launched its own hyperspectral TROLL satellite, and is supervising work on a second Czech-made satellite designed specifically for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in cooperation with Ukrainian specialists.Hyperfield 2 [Animation: Kuva Space]Finally, SkyWatch, based in Waterloo, Ontario, is a go-to source for earth observation data for business and government customers around the globe. It pulls together imagery from the worlds leading providers in one pay-as-you-use application, enabling European and other government customers to use sophisticated tip and cue services thatstitch together data coming from multiple sensor platforms to track areas of interest without contracts or major capital investments.The importance of fundingSpace infrastructure is hard to build and has traditionally required a level of investment well beyond anything thats been seen before in Europe. Funding is notching upin 2024, Europe accounted for four of the 15 largest private space funding deals globally. And last month, the European Commission introduced ReArm Europe, a $876 billion investment to strengthen Europes sovereign defense capabilities, including in space. Historically, Europe has invested much less in space than the U.S., devoting just 3% of total defense budget to space, versus 9% in the U.S. The European Space Agencys 2025 budget of around $8.4 billion is roughly a third of NASAs $25 billion budget request for 2025, which is not yet approved. Support from the U.S. government was key to establishing Musks space dominance: In 2006, SpaceX secured $278 million in NASA seed money to help fund the development and flight demonstration of the Falcon 9s Dragon capsule; in 2008, the company received a $1.6 billion contract with the agency to fly resupply missions to the ISS. I hope Europe is successful, says Kilian, of Space Capital. Its important that they are. But Europe is more than 10 years behind us. He notes that since fewer companies get funding in Europe, theres less competition driving results. Even so, he says, new companies serving sovereign needs will emerge and become decent investments. But it will take these companies more time and more money to achieve similar outcomes.
Category:
E-Commerce
Inside a warehouse in Santa Clara, California, a company called Vintage Electric Bikes builds sleek e-bikes with retro styling, customized for each customers order. But like other bike brands, the components it uses come from a global supply chain. The bicycle industry, theres just no f***ing way we can survive 100% [made in] America, says Eddie Johnson, sales director at the company. Its not possible. That means that tariffs, if they stay in place, will hit the industry hard. Last year, 115 electric bike brands left the market after another round of tariffs went into effect, according to Peter Woolery, who analyzes bike industry data. (Those tariffs were put in place during the first Trump administration, but e-bikes had a temporary exemption that expired last summer and President Biden did not renew.) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vintage Electric Bikes (@vintageelectric) When Vintage Electric Bikes first launched more than a decade ago, it tried to do as much as possible locally, working with local welders and machine shops to make parts like frames and handlebars. But when one key local foundry closedafter Google bought out its lease to expand he tech company’s officesVintage Electric Bikes couldnt find another local partner to replace it. It had to begin using a supplier in Taiwan, where most of the worlds high-end bikes are now made. Other parts, like e-bike batteries and motors, always came from other countries like China. “There’s no way around it,” Johnson says. Theres an argument that more bike assembly could happen in the U.S., Johnson says. But the hundred or so parts that go into making a bikespokes, chains, wheels, tires, saddles, seat posts, bearings, etceteraare unlikely to be made here. In the short term, it isnt feasible. And if it happened over the long term, he argues that it would make products unaffordable for consumers because of higher American wages. He makes the comparison to shoes. Do you really think American workers are going to want to build Nike shoes? No. And if they are going to make Nike shoes, you need to invest in that factory. You need to invest in the training. And then all of a sudden, your Nike shoe has all of this added cost. Do you think the American consumer is going to buy your average Nike sneaker for a few hundred dollars? Still, there are already some efforts to bring back some parts of bike manufacturing. Bloom, a Detroit-based startup, is working with bike brands and other types of companies to connect them with American factories. A factory that used to do TV assembly, for example, is now working on bike assembly. Another factory that used to make car parts, like dashboards, is also working on e-bikes. There are advantages to doing the work in the U.S. beyond supporting jobs, says Chris Nolte, Bloom’s cofounder. If you were to assemble that product domestically, you could really reduce your stock that you need to keep on hand by probably 70%, maybe even more, Nolte says. Theres a significant benefit there if a company doesnt have much cash available. They can still give the consumer the choices that they want, but have that flexibility. It also makes it easier to take back parts, including batteries, for recycling and reuse. Theres a chicken-and-egg problem, says Nolte: Some companies have found that doesnt make sense to assemble in the U.S. if components arent made here, and conversely, it also doesnt make sense to make components in the U.S. if assembly is happening somewhere else. But he says some large bike brands are working on plans for American manufacturing. Factories that are shared by multiple brands might be another possibility. (More complicated solutions may also be possible, like building foreign trade zones where some foreign parts could legally be imported tariff-free if a certain percentage of the other work happens in the U.S. But this type of zone is expensive to set up.) Reshoring bike manufacturing “is going to be a pretty painful process,” says Ash Lovill, vice president of government relations at the nonprofit People for Bikes. “It just costs significantly more right now to manufacture in the U.S. All of the companies that were manufacturing in the U.S. in the ’80s and ’90s moved out; moving them back is going to be really difficult.” To support American bike manufacturing, the government should help the industry build the infrastructure that’s necessary, she says. A bill that’s currently in Congress, the Domestic Bike Production Act, could help if it moves forward. In the meantime, bike prices are going to jump higher. Trump’s current tariffs on Chinawhich may changeadd up to around 90% for bikes now, says Lovill. Trump also removed the “de minimis” exemption that allowed products under $800 to be imported from China without tariffs, so if companies import smaller bike parts, those will also now cost more. Some companies still have inventory, so can wait a little longer before changing prices. (One e-bike company has been scrambling to receive a shipment that just arrived in order to avoid an unexpected $1 million tariff charge.) Others have already raised the price of their bikes. And its unclear how much consumers will be willing to pay at a time when the overall economy is so shaky. Theres going to be a shakedown, says Johnson. I dont see how certain brands survive. Vintage Electric Bikes makes a premium product; lower-end e-bikes are more at risk. I know the margin that this industry operates on, and I know that those $1,500 bikes are already operating on a fairly thin margin. I dont understand how overnight the e-bike consumer is going to accept the fact that they need to spend $3,500 on what was a $1,500 bike, just because of these tariffs. How do these brands survive when the consumer cant afford the product anymore?
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E-Commerce
During the last Trump presidency, Barbie was firmly at the center of progressive causes. Back in 2017, the BarbieStyle Instagram feed featured dolls wearing Love Wins T-shirts to show their support of marriage equality; some posts even subtly suggested that Barbie was in a same-sex relationship with a brunette called Aimee. Another post featured Barbie wearing a People Are People T-shirt designed by Christian Siriano to protest Trump’s immigration ban. That same year, Mattel rolled out Barbie dolls with more diverse body types, along with Muslim dolls that wore hijabs. With President Donald Trump back in the White House, it’s unclear whether the Barbie brand will remain a progressive icon. MattelBarbie’s parent companyhas dropped language surrounding DEI in a proxy statement to investors ahead of its annual shareholder meeting, a fact first reported in Bloomberg Law. Last year’s statement included language that said Mattel would create positive impact through purposeful play and by supporting diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities. This year, that language has vanished. Mattel also removed a table reflecting the gender and racial breakdown of its board members. Mattel’s public facing corporate website has also scrubbed references to DEI. In April 2024, the Citizenship section of this website said, Our aim is to contribute to a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable future. As of the publication of this story, that line has now been deleted. A spokesperson from Mattel said the change in language was just a reporting change and would not change its approach nor its product commitments. She also pointed that the company publishes its Inclusion Guiding Principles on its corporate website, which mentions promoting equality. Inclusion is part of our DNA at Mattel, the spokesperson told Fast Company. We foster an environment that attracts incredibly talented people and a culture of respect and belonging that we’re very proud of. As it relates to our products and experiences, play is our language, and we speak to our consumers authentically by representing the world as they see and imagine it. In this political climate, the company’s decision to eliminate references to DEI in its correspondence with investors and consumers is notable, suggesting that it is feeling the heat from the Trump administration’s relentless attacks on corporate DEI policies. Hours after taking office in January, Trump dismantled the federal government’s DEI agenda, and asked federal agencies to draw up lists of private companies that could be investigated for illegal DEI discrimination. In response, dozens of companies, such as Jetblue, Meta and Walmart, have toned down their language supporting DEI or walked back their DEI commitments altogether. This, in turn, has led to a massive boycott effort from organizations like the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, the People’s Union USA, and the NAACP. But there have been some companies who have used this moment to reaffirm their commitments to DEI, including CostCo and Kendra Scott, and have been rewarded for it by consumers who are flocking to shop from them. Progressive have often been angriest at companies they once perceived as allies. Target, for instance, took a bold stance in the midst of the Black Live Matters protests in 2020, pledging to increase its Black workforce by 20% throughout the company and bring in more Black-owned brands. But when it rolled back its DEI efforts, it became the subject of a persistent and widespread boycott, which seems to be having an impact. The retailer’s foot traffic has been in decline for eight weeks now. For Mattel, scaling back its DEI efforts could be similarly damaging. Over the past decade, the Barbie brand went through a transformation. For years, the brand had sluggish sales, as millennial parents perceived the doll as reflecting old-fashioned values, such as being skinny, beautiful, and attractive to men. But Richard Dickson, Mattel’s CEO from 2000 to 2023, helped make Barbie more exciting and aligned with millennial culture. He oversaw the brand’s efforts to roll out a wider range of dolls, with different body types and gender expressions. And perhaps most impressively, he helped unleash the blockbuster Barbie movie which turned Barbie into a symbol of feminism and diversity. (Dickson was an executive producer on the movie; he left Mattel to become the CEO of Gap Inc. in 2023.) Mattel’s spokesperson says that the company will not change its approach to products design or hiring. We’ll have to wait and see how the company continues to evolve in the months and years to come, but it’s clear that many consumers are paying close attention to brands that have stood for progressive values in the past and are now abandoning these ideals in the face of political pressure. If a brand like Barbie suddenly takes a turn away from inclusivity, it risks falling out of step with today’s parents and possibly even facing a Target-size backlash.
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E-Commerce
Meta is bringing its Teen Accounts, which have stricter parental controls, to its Facebook and Messenger platforms on Tuesday, expanding its teen service from just Instagram. The social media giant rolled out Teen Accounts last year on Instagram that have built-in restrictions on who can contact teens, the content they see, and limits on their time on Instagram. [Photo: Meta] Tuesday’s announcement also includes updates to Instagram’s teen service that will roll out in the next couple of months. Instagram said that teens under 16 will be prohibited from going Live unless their parents give them permission to do so. Teens under that age also will be required to have parental permission to turn off a feature that automatically blurs imaged containing suspected nudity in DMs. [Photo: Meta] Meta has come under fire from parents and lawmakers for its platforms’ impacts on young users. Forty-one states and D.C. filed lawsuits against Meta in 2023, alleging that the company intentionally designed some features on Facebook and Instagram that they knew could harm teens and other young users. Tuesday’s announcement is part of a broader push by the social media giant to beef up parental controls to drum up support. [Photo: Meta] Instagram said it moved 54 million teens into Teen Accounts. It added that 97% of teens aged 13 to 15 years old keep those built-in protections on.
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E-Commerce
The extreme tariffs that President Donald Trump has applied to nations across the world have had a whipsaw effect on global trade, with markets nosediving and countries scrambling to strategize a response. Supply chains in particular have been upended: Clothes-makers fear fluctuations across the entire production system, the cost of furniture and other home goods is likely to soon spike, and companies like Apple, which manufacture much of their high-tech products in China, have been caught in a trade-war nightmare. The same strains and stresses will impact the car industry. In addition to levies placed on foreign carmakers like BMW and Toyota, even American-made cars tend to rely on a complex web of parts and labor from both Mexico and China. Currently, about 6 out of every 10 auto replacement parts used in the U.S. are imported from Mexico, Canada, and China, according to the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA). And the sharp rise in costs wont just impact those looking to buy a new ride. Higher replacement costs mean insurers will likely foot a much bigger bill to resolve claims and fix damaged automobiles. That means higher costs trickling down to consumers, and increases in insurance rates that may be some of the highest in recent history. Robert Passmore, department vice president at the APCIA, estimates the industry might see anywhere between $30 and $60 billion more in personal auto insurance claim costs in 2025 alone. Individual annual car insurance costs will vary, but the average American, who pays roughly $2,000 a year, will see an increase. Insurify, an insurance shopping marketplace, predicts insurance costs will spike 19% this year after the impacts of Trump’s “Liberation Day” cycle through supply chains. Without the tariff increase, insurance rates would have only gone up 5%. Thats a huge increase in cost due to tariffs, specifically the levies on automobiles and auto parts introduced in late March. In addition, the Canada and Mexico-specific tariffs that impact many automaker supply chains, and the steel and aluminum tariffs, also made replacing busted cars more expensive. That adds up to about $350 extra per household per year. Insurance companies need a few months of data to get exact costs, and it takes a while for new premium costs to cycle in across the population, but by the end of the year, unless Trump backs off the tariffs, higher prices should be widespread. Matt Brannon, a data journalist at Insurify, said hes seen reports that insurance companies are already prepping agents to explain to their customers that these are tariff-driven increases in their insurance costs. Roughly 95% of Americans drive at least occasionally, per the AAA. Due to our car-centric transportation network, the vast majority dont have the option to get around without a car and the compulsory insurance. The cost of covering your car has whipsawed in recent years, dropping dramatically during the pandemic, due to less travel and few drives to work, and therefore fewer accidents to cover. It spiked once driversaccustomed to empty streets and faster speedsgot back on the road and accident rates increased. It jumped by 11% and 16% in 2023 and 2024, respectively, according to data from ValuePenguin, and was forecast to stabilize and slow down this year, until tariffs significantly increased the cost of anything related to a car. Any time your insurance rates go up, it eats into your household budget, said Rob Bhatt, insurance analyst for ValuePenguin. You have to have car insurance to drive legally, and so, you know, this isn’t really discretionary spending we’re talking about. Its more bad news for consumers. Insurance companies feel compelled to raise premiums to cover the more costly claims they need to pay; it doesnt help that, as cars have become more high-tech with bumper cameras and computer systems, theyve also become more expensive to fix. Analysts say that the insurance industry is attempting to lobby local, state, and federal governments to pass more stringent speed limits and safety laws to help reduce accidents and their exposure, but its not making much headway. Some Americans may attempt to lower their monthly insurance burden by increasing the deductible amount on their insurance, but that risks much more financial damage in the wake of an accident. At this point, short of Trump reversing the tariffs, the only hope for lower insurance rates seems to be if Americans miraculously and simultaneously become better drivers.
Category:
E-Commerce
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