Space & Satellite Economy

pace is no longer a government science project — it's a $630 billion commercial economy growing 9% annually, and the companies building it are winning real contracts today. Rocket Lab just became the second company in history to routinely land and reuse orbital rockets, launching at a pace that rivals early SpaceX. AST SpaceMobile is deploying the first direct-to-smartphone satellite network, turning every cell phone on Earth into a satellite phone without new hardware. Planet Labs images the entire Earth daily for agriculture, insurance, and intelligence customers. Meanwhile, the defense side is accelerating: the Pentagon's $30B+ annual space budget funds missile warning satellites, GPS resilience, and hypersonic tracking — and it's shifting from legacy primes to commercial providers who launch faster and cheaper. Lockheed and Northrop still anchor the heavy defense programs, but Kratos builds the autonomous drones and satellite ground systems at a fraction of the cost. This strategy spans the full space value chain: launch vehicles putting payloads in orbit, satellite operators monetizing the data and connectivity, and defense contractors securing the domain. When space and defense spending momentum is strong, it rides the trend. When it fades, gold and Treasuries protect capital until the next launch window opens.