VCs invest other people's money, who want to see a clear path to profit. They can't afford to invest in long term risky bet like space or fusion energy. VC is not the right model for space investment. Nothing sad about it.
It's also hard to crowdsource a space venture. Government's funds such as DARPA's or billionaire's such as Elon Musk's or Bezos's, or Paul Allen's in this case, make more sense. So our best bet to advance science is to have science friendly government in place. That or inspire rich people to be interested in science.
As an exception, there are segments that receive substantial investment, such as small rocket launch. Many many companies emerged in recent years such as Rocket Lab, Firefly, Relativity, Vector, Astra. Investors clearly see the market in near term for small satellites.
It's also hard to crowdsource a space venture. Government's funds such as DARPA's or billionaire's such as Elon Musk's or Bezos's, or Paul Allen's in this case, make more sense. So our best bet to advance science is to have science friendly government in place. That or inspire rich people to be interested in science.
As an exception, there are segments that receive substantial investment, such as small rocket launch. Many many companies emerged in recent years such as Rocket Lab, Firefly, Relativity, Vector, Astra. Investors clearly see the market in near term for small satellites.