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Business · Makemake

Could Makemake ever make money?

Three ways people could earn from a world 45 AU away, from the realistic (selling good analysis) to the very long-shot (shipping its ice). Each has a simple model you can edit.

  • Uses 3
  • Calculators 3
  • Price free teaser

Please read: Space uses are speculative and long-horizon. Everything here is a simplified teaching model with assumptions you can change. Nothing on this page is investment advice.

Use cases and the water-supply inputs come from our Space Resource Intelligence (SRI) sample report on Makemake. Its verdict: Makemake is very hard to reach (an ideal transfer takes about 56 years), so its value is scientific and long-horizon option value, with no commercial case within any investable horizon.

01Now

Research & data products

The opportunityTurn public telescope and mission science into decision-ready briefs: what is known, what is guessed, and what it would take to get there. The SRI sample report rates this the most practical use today.

Who pays

Space-focused venture investors, mining and aerospace strategy teams, space agencies and family offices.

Key risks

  • Small, specialised audience
  • The underlying data is public, so the value is all in analysis and trust
  • Findings can change quickly as new papers land
Simplified modelSell reports or subscriptions. Revenue = price × buyers. Costs = per-report research time plus a yearly fixed base (tools, data, editing).

Try the numbers (per year)

Revenue / year
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Costs / year
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Profit / year
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Margin
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Break-even
– reports
Payback on up-front cost
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The XLSX has a working Summary tab. The P&L, Capex and Sensitivity tabs are locked previews: they are in the full report, coming soon. We store your email to send you the link and a few short updates about the report. Unsubscribe any time. See our privacy page.

02Now to 10 years

Science-led partnerships

The opportunityPartner with agencies and universities on studies, instrument concepts or mission design for the outer solar system. The SRI report notes revenue here comes from agencies rather than resources.

Who pays

Space agencies, research councils and universities, through contracts and grants.

Key risks

  • Budgets depend on government priorities
  • Long, competitive proposal cycles
  • Few outer-solar-system missions are funded at a time
Simplified modelWin study contracts. Revenue = contracts × average value. Costs = delivery cost per contract plus yearly overhead.

Try the numbers (per year)

Revenue / year
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Costs / year
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Profit / year
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Margin
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Break-even
– contracts
Payback on up-front cost
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The XLSX has a working Summary tab. The P&L, Capex and Sensitivity tabs are locked previews: they are in the full report, coming soon. We store your email to send you the link and a few short updates about the report. Unsubscribe any time. See our privacy page.

0320+ years, realistically beyond any investment horizon

In-space water supply (very long shot)

The opportunityMine ice and deliver water to customers in space, where it could be used for life support or propellant. The SRI report rates the potential very high but notes the value depends on demand beyond low Earth orbit.

Who pays

Future in-space customers such as propellant depots and crewed stations. No anchor customer for space-sourced water exists today.

Key risks

  • No anchor customer for space-sourced water
  • About 56 years each way on an ideal transfer
  • Unproven extraction tech; earlier space-mining start-ups ended in acquisitions
  • Legal acceptance of space resource rights is still developing
  • Cheaper launch from Earth undercuts the price of space water
Simplified modelWater delivered per year = extraction × usable fraction × transport efficiency. Revenue = delivered kg × price. Cash only starts after development plus the trip out and back, then the result is discounted and multiplied by the chance of success.

Try the numbers (per year)

Revenue / year
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Costs / year
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Profit / year
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Margin
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Break-even
– kg of water per year
Simplified NPV
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The full SRI sample model, which also counts launch mass and timing in more detail, gives a base-case NPV of about −$1,045M (bear −$1,956M, bull −$571M). This calculator is simpler, so its NPV differs.

The XLSX has a working Summary tab. The P&L, Capex and Sensitivity tabs are locked previews: they are in the full report, coming soon. We store your email to send you the link and a few short updates about the report. Unsubscribe any time. See our privacy page.

Space uses are speculative and long-horizon. Everything here is a simplified teaching model with assumptions you can change. Nothing on this page is investment advice.