Report

Space: The $1.8 Trillion Opportunity for Global Economic Growth

The space economy is forecast to soar to $1.8 trillion by 2035 in an increasingly connected and mobile world, impacting and creating value for nearly all industries on Earth and providing solutions to many of the world’s greatest challenges.

The World Economic Forum and McKinsey & Company have engaged with more than 60 thought leaders from the public, private and non-profit sectors, representing more than 15 industries and most parts of the globe, to provide the most detailed picture yet of not only the space economy’s future trajectory, but also of how space will impact many other sectors – often in indirect ways – through ever improving and expanding technological capabilities.

KEY FINDINGS

Space will be a larger part of the global economy by 2035. The space economy is forecast to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035, up from $630 billion in 2023

Space will become more about connecting people and goods. Five industries – supply chain and transportation; food and beverage; state-sponsored defence; retail, consumer goods and lifestyle; and digital communications – will generate more than 60% of the increase in the space economy by 2035

Space’s impact will increasingly go beyond space itself – for example, companies like ride-hailing apps have scaled by utilizing satellite technology to connect riders and drivers

Space’s return on investment will be more than financial. Beyond revenue generation, space will play an increasingly crucial role in mitigating world challenges, ranging from disaster warning and climate monitoring, to improved humanitarian response and more widespread prosperity

Conclusion

With new space data, services and access, companies will accelerate how they find ways to generate revenue and cost efficiencies. And while governments may take up these commercial offerings, they will also continue to invest in defense and civil applications.

But to sustain this take-off, stakeholders across the board must get involved and build a dialogue about the economic, humanitarian and geopolitical dimensions of space. State-sponsored or commercial, space- or non-space focused, every player can be a driver of the space industry by contributing to:

Standardization and harmonization to reduce costs across the space value chain.
Accessibility and usability to facilitate multiplication of space-enabled use cases.
Awareness and education to unlock adoption across industries and regions.