Many articles address the current space industry on the basis of a specific domain (technical innovation, infrastructure needs, etc.), but a few address the funding aspect of the new space economy, particularly as we transition from substantial public funding for space to private funding. Even now, the world is seeing a dramatic increase in the number of private companies focused on the exploitation of space resources, a trend that will only continue to advance. Accompanying this development has been a transition from generous public funding for space initiatives to private funding. Both these trends will also increase, significantly, as time moves on. As all the private actors require external funding to achieve their commercial aims, the need has developed for a bold new source of funding for higher risk private ventures related to the space resources industry. This article argues for the creation of an International Space Development Bank that would be structured, owned, and governed in a manner similar to analogous terrestrial multilateral development banks, but with a focused mandate to fund space- and space resource-related development projects and thereby help the space economy to achieve faster growth and reinforce best practices in regard to financing, cooperation, and oversight.
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