[adewinter]

I'm sorry, "harvest space junk"? How on earth could that possibly be profitable? There is zero mystery why any VC, Midwest or otherwise, would not be interested in that business model.

[gorgoiler]

Isn’t it a simple case of NASA is paying for a contract so if we do it with a good enough margin we make a profit?

[rmason]

Its really a play on real estate. There are a finite number of spots available in geo-synchronous orbit. Plenty of long dead satellites that could provide new spots if only they were placed in a lower orbit where they would eventually crash into the Pacific ocean.

The only reason that there isn't an active market is because there is no way to free up space. Once there is such a method I predict there will be auctions for prime spots.