Space industry primer
Below is a concise industry primer built only from the retrieved evidence.
1) Big picture: why the space industry is expanding
Several retrieved filings describe the space industry as being in a structural growth phase:
- Lower launch costs and higher cadence are a core driver. Space Asset Acquisition says growth has been driven by “sustained reductions in launch and operating costs,” helped by reusable rockets, leading to “lower launch costs, higher launch cadence, and economies of scale.” It says this helped the commercial space sector grow from ~$450 billion in 2020 to $613 billion in 2024, with forecasts to $1.16 trillion in 2030 and $1.8 trillion by 2035. 2026-03-27 10-K
- Virgin Galactic similarly says “rapidly advancing technologies, decreasing costs, open innovation models… and greater availability of capital have driven explosive growth in the commercial space market.” 2026-03-30 10-K
- Perimeter Acquisition cites McKinsey forecasting the global space economy at $1.8 trillion by 2035, up from $630 billion in 2023, implying a 9.1% CAGR. 2026-03-30 10-K
2) Demand drivers
A. National security and defense
A major theme across filings is that space is increasingly strategic for defense:
