Advertising in space: One giant leap for adland?

As Jeff Bezos’ all-female Blue Origin mission successfully launched yesterday (April 14), it marked yet another reminder that space travel is no longer reserved for astronauts—it’s increasingly the domain of billionaires, brands, and bold PR plays.

Which raises a timely question: Houston, do we have an advertising problem?

The advertising industry, not content with saturating every screen and skyline on Earth, now appears to have its sights set on orbit. Space may well be the final frontier for commercial messaging—and while the idea might sound far-fetched, it’s not entirely uncharted territory.

After all, brands have been flirting with the idea of advertising in space for decades. In 1996, Pepsi paid the Russian government US$5 million to float a Pepsi can outside the Mir space station. And again in 2019, the beverage giant considered partnering with a Russian startup, StartRocket, to launch a space billboard. However, after public backlash, Pepsi stated it had no further plans for the project.

Vlad Sitnikov is the founder of StartRocket, the startup that partnered with Pepsi, and says he believes an orbital billboard displayed in space will happen in his lifetime. 

 

"Everything is ready on the engineering side," says Sitnikov. "We just need money to assemble the satellite and launch it. We get the money, and in a year and a half, we can deploy a team and start working."

 

Sitnikov adds that he and his team have already processed a dozen requests from brands interested in advertising in space, of which some worked and some didn't.

 

"Anything space-related is complicated for marketing directors to grasp when everyone around them is struggling with yet another global crisis. But I think things will calm down this year and interest will return to genuinely significant and bright projects that delight consumers."

 

Too much of a leap for ad-kind?

 

Technically, advertising in space is already happening in small ways. There has been a number of branded payloads, like Tesla launching a Roadster into orbit or astronauts posing with corporate logos aboard the International Space Station. But in terms of something more in your face—like giant billboards visible from Earth—that’s still in the realm of "maybe someday."

 

 

But how much current demand is there for advertising in space? Dr Robert Urban, a seasoned marketing consultant who runs a space marketing agency, Paper Boat Media, says that if we're talking about brands sponsoring space missions or attaching their name to a satellite, then yes—there’s real demand.

"SpaceX and NASA already have partnerships with private companies," says Urban. "However, if we're talking about ads floating in the sky, the demand is murky. There are ethical and logistical hurdles, plus potential backlash. People don’t want their night sky cluttered with flashing logos."

Last month there were calls from astronomers for a global ban on space advertising highlighting the tension between commercial interests and the preservation of our night skies. Astronomers argue that space advertising would permanently scar the natural beauty of the night sky—a resource shared by all of humanity. The American Astronomical Society has warned that space billboards could wreak havoc on astronomical research, already plagued by the rising number of satellites cluttering orbital space.

Take Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet constellation. It’s brought affordable internet to remote areas, but its bright reflections have disrupted telescope observations, sparking backlash from the scientific community. Now imagine adding glowing logos to the mix.

However, one marketing-focused space agency called Sent Into Space believes it may have the solution. Founded in 2011, the firm has so far conducted over 1,000 flights to the upper stratosphere but only launches its crafts into the closest region of space—known as Near Space—using high-altitude balloons rather than rockets to reach low Earth orbit (LEO), which has a number of distinct advantages. 

One of the advantages is that the flights only last for a matter of hours, with the spacecrafts parachuting back to Earth once the spaceborne footage has been captured. The crafts are also so small that any impact on the night sky from the ground is negligible, not to mention extremely short-lived.

"We don’t leave space junk, period," says Mike Bull, Sent Into Space's sales and marketing executive. "Not only do our crafts not achieve orbit—and therefore not pose any risk to satellites—our entire craft returns safely to Earth leaving nothing behind, resulting in no terrestrial or spaceborne impact."

Sent Into Space has sent items like pizza and chicken nuggets into space, as well as teaming up with popular influencers like Logan Paul to launch his 99 Originals polaroid collection into space. And while this type of near-space payload marketing is mainly done as publicity stunts or novelty, it's proving popular.

"We’ve actually been executing back-to-back projects for well over a decade now, both internationally and from our base here in the UK," says Bull. "Additionally, our business model is proving to be completely industry and region agnostic; we’ve tackled campaigns for everyone from crypto developers and mobile phone manufacturers to colleges and restaurant chains hailing from every corner of the globe."

And while spaceborne advertising is still in its relative infancy and, as such, it’s perhaps not something that would cross the minds of many marketing managers, Bull says Sent Into Space is on a mission to change that. 

"We’re on a mission to change all that by not only demonstrating how effective spaceborne campaigns can be but also emphasising how accessible they are for brands with budgets of all sizes to undertake,” says Bull.

Reach vs risks

But for those who are interested in taking the giant leap into space advertising, where does one even begin when it comes to measuring the ROI of space-related marketing campaigns? And would the potential reach outweigh the risks of negative publicity? 

"The return on investment is often most effectively measured in terms of social-media interactions, with images and videos of our campaigns regularly increasing client engagement numbers by orders of magnitude," says Bull. "In terms of negative publicity: put simply, we don’t suffer from any. We’re extremely proud of our environmental policy which—boiled down to a single phrase—is to leave space, the Earth and its atmosphere exactly how we found it."

And Sitnikov says that in terms of orbital displays as media, the focus is on the cost per thousand impressions, which can be up to $10, which seems affordable to users. 

"As for creative works, everything is old-fashioned," adds Sitnikov. "Based on the ideas of space, innovation, and science, media and funnels are built in all available channels. Here, we focus on virality and PR. Nothing is more important than stories passed on by word of mouth."

In 2022, researchers from Skoltech and MIPT estimated that it would cost in the region of US$65 million to set up advertising in space, deploying 50 satellites to enable it. This includes $48.7 million for manufacturing, $11.5 million for testing and engineering, and $4.8 million for launch. By targeting large cities, they projected a net income of $111 million over three months, or about $4.6 million per ad. This approach leverages space technology to generate significant revenue, despite potential environmental concerns.

However, space law may hinder satellite billboards due to the 1966 Outer Space Treaty, which considers space a global common. While the treaty doesn't specifically address space advertising, Article IX requires nations to avoid "harmful interference" with other space activities. This could apply to satellite billboards that obstruct astronomical observations.

In the US, a national law prohibits "obtrusive" space advertising. However, international law's effectiveness depends on national interpretations, such as Russia's stance on its own space advertising ventures. Asia-Pacific countries like China and India, with rapidly growing space programmes, could soon become key players in this debate—but it remains to be seen whether they will lean towards innovation or preservation.

Alternatives to branding the night sky

In any case, instead of branding the night sky, there are already alternative ways that brands can align themselves with space without disrupting it, including sponsoring missions, research, or exploration efforts. In 2020, cosmetics giant Estee Lauder Estée Lauder paid NASA about US$128,000 to transport 10 bottles of a skincare serum into space for a photoshoot. And several companies, including Blue Origin and SpaceX, have collaborated with NASA on various space missions and research projects, contributing to advancements in space exploration.

 

"It's a myth that we brand the night sky. A myth of people who are afraid of everything new," says Sitnikov. "For starters, we don't even work at night, there are no people on the streets at night as people are sleeping. Instead we work at sunset and sunrise—at this moment astronomers don't work, and we can't see the stars."

 

Sitnikov adds that these projects tend to be above big cities where astronomers don't make their research because the light of the cities doesn't allow them to see the stars.

 

"We are not just advertising, we are entertainment," says Sitnikov. "We are engaged in giving people something new and inspiring their imagination to search for joy. Of course the core of the agency and our goal is to popularise and unite brands with the future frontier, and I think this year the attitude towards space as a new frontier and the escape of progressive humanity from this crazy planet will change."