---
type: claim
domain: space-development
description: "At 7.8% YoY growth with commercial revenue at 78% of total, the space economy has crossed from government-subsidized frontier to self-sustaining commercial industry — ground equipment ($155B) is the largest segment, revealing that space's economic center of gravity is already terrestrial applications"
confidence: proven
source: "Space Foundation Space Report Q4 2024, SIA State of the Satellite Industry 2024, McKinsey space economy projections, Morgan Stanley space forecast"
created: 2026-03-08
---

# the space economy reached 613 billion in 2024 and is converging on 1 trillion by 2032 making it a major global industry not a speculative frontier

The global space economy reached a record $613 billion in 2024, reflecting 7.8% year-over-year growth. Multiple projections converge on the $1 trillion mark between 2032 and 2034, with McKinsey projecting $1.8 trillion by 2035 and Morgan Stanley estimating over $1 trillion by 2040. The variance in estimates reflects methodological differences — some count only direct space revenues (launch, satellite services, manufacturing) while broader definitions include ground equipment, satellite-enabled services, and downstream applications like GPS-dependent logistics.

The critical structural fact is the commercial-government split: commercial revenue accounts for 78% (~$478 billion) while government budgets constitute 22% (~$132 billion). This split has been steadily shifting toward commercial over the past decade. The space economy is no longer a government program with commercial appendages — it is a commercial industry with government as a major customer.

Key growth drivers include satellite broadband (29% revenue growth, 46% subscription growth in 2024), commercial launch services (30% YoY to $9.3 billion), and satellite manufacturing (up 17% to $20 billion).

Ground equipment at $155.3 billion is the single largest segment by revenue, often overlooked, with GNSS equipment alone at $118.9 billion. This reveals that the space economy's center of gravity has already shifted to terrestrial applications of space infrastructure — the economic value is increasingly in what space enables on Earth, not in space activities themselves. This parallels the pattern where [[value in industry transitions accrues to bottleneck positions in the emerging architecture not to pioneers or to the largest incumbents]] — the value-capture layer is increasingly downstream of launch and satellites.

---

Relevant Notes:
- [[launch cost reduction is the keystone variable that unlocks every downstream space industry at specific price thresholds]] — the $613B economy exists at current launch costs; each cost reduction unlocks new segments
- [[attractor states provide gravitational reference points for capital allocation during structural industry change]] — the $1T convergence point acts as an attractor for capital allocation decisions
- [[value in industry transitions accrues to bottleneck positions in the emerging architecture not to pioneers or to the largest incumbents]] — ground equipment dominance shows value accruing to terrestrial application layers
- [[the space launch cost trajectory is a phase transition not a gradual decline analogous to sail-to-steam in maritime transport]] — the phase transition will accelerate the growth rate beyond current projections

Topics:
- [[_map]]
