Billionaires are investing in space. Will they make a profit?
Billionaires like Tesla CEO Elon Musk (TSLA) and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (AMZN) are pouring their cash into exploring space. Space exploration is expensive, labor-intensive, time-consuming, and risky. Nothing is guaranteed. The Franklin Institute Chief Astronomer Derrick Pitts says it's "exciting" that private money is flowing into space exploration, but the question remains: How will they make a profit? "Right now, the billions that they are pouring in are going towards building the necessary infrastructure to do the work that has to be done off-planet, in space and that is tremendously difficult," Pitts explains, adding, "It's going to take a long time to get to a point where you actually have a process that's turning a product around that can generate some positive revenue for you." One area where investors may see some returns a little sooner, Pitts says, are "the practical technologies that emerge from the development of all the technologies that are being developed to actually build this space infrastructure. What kinds of technologies coming out of this can be used here on Earth?" Catch up on Yahoo Finance's special coverage as part of this week's Space Race: Investing in the Final Frontier series. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Catalysts. This post was written by Stephanie Mikulich.