Article: A Trillion Dollars is About to Chase Space. What Kind of Economy Will Be Built?

The largest IPO in history is here, and capital is expected to flow into the space industry at record volume. Whether that capital builds an economy that fully operates—or one that just accumulates hardware—is a choice we are about to make. 

Sovereign buyers and vertically integrated systems are redefining the space sector’s operating model, with value concentrating around scarce spectrum and full‑stack capability.

Testimony to the Arizona Space Commission on how their state can coordinate activities to compete in the global space economy.

Co-authored by Kevin O'Connell this article explores six broad components all nations face when expanding and developing their space ecosystems. When brought together, these help create a framework to identify areas for improvement, investment, and public sector action.

Presented at the 75th International Astronautical Conference, this paper explores the relationship of the golden triad and their various facets to create a framework of thinking for how to understand their relationship and calibrate strategies to collectively (and productively) advance the ecosystem. As the space economy becomes more interconnected, so must our understanding of these three factors and

how we can measure, utilize, and influence signals from each. 

 The cadence of attempted Moon landings is increasing, preceding the hopeful launch of NASA’s second and third Artemis missions. Yet, these landing

attempts are in keeping with the paradigm that carried the United States to the Moon more than 50 years ago. Each mission is a self-contained display of capabilities evidencing a feat of technological accomplishment. This is how the Moon has traditionally been approached, but this will not carry us into the future. If a sustainable cislunar economy is to emerge in the near term, a different paradigm is necessary.

It’s limiting to consider the space economy as only the domain of space-specific companies. The bigger and more lucrative opportunities are found in markets not traditionally associated with space. Here, amid a broad ecosystem of enterprises, entrepreneurs and business leaders from every industry have a chance to open new revenue streams, target new customers, and fuel innovation and intellectual property development.

Activities in space are vast, complex, and local, and the value of their impact might not be immediately obvious to all stakeholders.

The space economy is worth nearly $500 billion — why wouldn't you want to get involved if you can? Use these four tips to find out how you can get started.

You don’t have to take the whole market head-on. You just need to find where you fit now and what you’ll enable for its future growth.

A growing space industry is creating business opportunities in space, ranging from Earth observation and communications to space tourism and, eventually, asteroid mining.

Manuscript submission to the 73rd International Astronautical Congress on 

Entrepreneurial Opportunities and Trends in the Emerging Global Space Ecosystem.