Space Expedition Corporation and former Goldman Sachs trader Anton Kreil, have just announced they will be attempting to set a new World Record by executing the “First Trade in Space” aboard the XCOR Lynx MK II shuttle in 2014.
Dutch Space Tourism company, Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) and world-renowned financial markets trader Anton Kreil are about to make a giant financial leap and go one step beyond.
In an interview in the latest edition of the London-based publication Square Mile Magazine, Kreil has announced that he will be attempting to become the first person in history to make a financial markets transaction in Space, when he hops aboard the XCOR Lynx MKII shuttle with SXC in 2014.
Technically, the World Records that Kreil and SXC will be attempting are “First Financial Transaction in Space” and “Highest Recorded Financial Transaction.” However, given that Kreil is a City-based trader, the “Financial Transactions” he will be making will be a Currency Trade and a Stock / Share Trade.
In the Square Mile interview, Kreil outlined that since he is British and is flying in a US-built shuttle, trading the currency pair of Sterling US Dollar (GBP/USD), commonly known in the financial markets as “Cable”, made perfect sense. Kreil admitted: “I certainly can’t commit to trading the Euro. With the way things are looking at the moment, it may not even be around by the time we go.”
As for the Stock Trade, Kreil was less forthcoming about the specifics. “We’re currently in talks with publicly-listed companies in the US, UK and Europe with regards to sponsoring the trade. We’re looking at doing a big one and the stock will most likely be announced a few weeks before the flight.”
The Banking sector also wants a piece of the action. Kreil also revealed that they were in talks with Investment Banks and brokers who want to sponsor the execution.
The flight will be broadcast live on the internet, so the sponsors of the trades will get instant worldwide exposure. There will be cameras inside the aircraft and Kreil will be floating weightless in the cockpit, looking down at Earth and buying the sponsor’s stock.
“From the companies’ perspective, the message of being a true global pioneer is a great message. It’s an amazing situation to be involved in,” stated Kreil.
The flight itself will take off from either Mohave in California or the Caribbean island of Curacao. It will take Anton four minutes to get to Space and he will be travelling at three times the speed of sound up to 103km (330,000 feet). 100km is the internationally-accepted border to Space and is known as The Karman Line. As long as Kreil executes the trade at 100km above sea level, the sponsor will hold the record. Kreil will then fly back to Earth and the entire trip will be around one hour.
SXC CEO Michiel Mol said: “When Anton came to us with the idea, we embraced it immediately. It’s clearly going to be a lot of fun and sends out a positive message. One thing we know for sure. The company sponsor’s stock will receive instant worldwide attention.”
*Anton Kreil is a former-Goldman Sachs trader who now runs the Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management.
*Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) is run by Michiel Mol. Michiel is also the founder of Europe’s largest Digital Media Agency Lost Boys International and is co-owner of the Formula One racing team Force India.
*XCOR Aerospace is focussed on the research, development, project management and production of safe, reliable, Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs), rocket engines and rocket propulsion systems.
