Where family offices see buying opportunities in the space

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide for the high-net-worth investor and consumer. subscription To receive future issues, directly to your inbox.

Billionaires’ investment firms, including former eBay boss Jeff Skoll and AutoZone’s Pete Hyde, are expected to reap rewards from… SpaceXThe IPO is this Friday.

However, while SpaceX’s profile is superior to almost every other private space company, family office investors told CNBC they see other opportunities in the sector even for companies that don’t have Elon Musk’s name attached to them. Moreover, they said they view space-related startups as opportunities to invest in infrastructure and defense rather than flashy bets on space exploration.

Gary Lauder, the cosmetics heir turned venture capitalist, has invested in SpaceX through a special purpose vehicle and two venture funds. He told CNBC he was attracted to the power of Starlink satellite technology, not the prospects of space tourism.

Most of Lauder’s early investments were in communications, and he participated in a symposium on satellite communications in the early 1990s.

“I never dreamed of becoming an astronaut,” he said. “It’s just an important communication tool.”

Jason Blank, an investor who started his namesake family office in 2024, said he is interested in important tools in space, such as mission-critical devices and data networks.

“I think the public markets are very focused on discussing the cadences of rocket launches, and the costs around aviation development, but from my perspective and from where I sit, managing Permanent Family Capital, the real narrative has already evolved,” he said.

Robin Lauber’s Infinitas Capital invested in SpaceX in early 2025 through a secondary offering. He cited Musk’s track record and Starlink’s success as reasons to invest money. Lauber also noted that the valuation was “reasonable” compared to the more than $1.75 trillion now expected.

He told CNBC that Infinitas would have sold some shares before the IPO if it had found a willing buyer at the appropriate discounted valuation. Lauber is open to selling locked-in stocks at a discount to recover the initial cost of the investment and see how other stocks perform.

Looking to the future, Lauber is considering further investments in European space companies such as Isar Aerospace, a German company that provides launch services. He is also considering participating in a new fund from Alpine Space Ventures, of which a SpaceX alumnus is a founding partner.

He added: “European sovereignty is a huge topic everywhere.”

Investing in space-related companies was not popular not long ago, according to John Kotler of Admiralty Partners. He spent 10 years in the US Navy before becoming an investment banker specializing in aerospace and defense in the early 1980s. He left Wasserstein Perella & Co. In 1992 to start his own investment firm in order to focus more on the sector, much to the dismay of his then boss, Bruce Wasserstein.

“He told me I was a fool because the Cold War was over and there would be no more spending on the defense industry,” Kotler said. “People have concluded that this is the end of the defense industry, but if you look at human history, we are not a very peaceful species.” “To me, it seemed ridiculous to announce the end of defense spending, and I was willing to bet against it with my own capital and my own time.”

Kotler sold that investment firm in 2002 to focus on his family office, Admiralty Partners. This includes his investments Aerospace fireflya missile maker with clients including Lockheed Martin and the US Space Force.

Kotler said that investing in airlines that are pioneering new technologies requires patience. This is where family offices have an advantage over traditional private equity firms because they are not under pressure to deliver returns on a set timeline.

While the prospect of traveling to Mars is exciting, space exploration companies face a tougher road to financial success because federal government spending is less consistent, he said.

“Defense spending will be a recurring theme, and it will have its ups and downs based on the administration’s priorities, but there will always be an end market there,” he said.

Kotler said the enthusiasm around SpaceX’s IPO belies significant risks to aerospace investing, such as fluctuations in federal spending. He added that he is concerned that federal cuts in research funding will jeopardize the pipeline of future startups.

“There’s a temptation because of what’s happening now to think that commercial space companies are the answer to everything,” Kotler said. “Maybe over time, commercial industry might be able to do this at a lower cost, but if you amortize everything, it will take a long time for that to happen, and these early investments by the government were key to making these things happen.”