For decades, space was bifurcated into two categories: a national prestige project or a distant scientific experiment. It is technically remarkable, politically symbolic and deeply inspiring, yet has remained largely detached from the rhythms of the real economy and everyday life.

The technology developed to send humans and satellites beyond Earth’s atmosphere has formed the backbone of modern communication, navigation, security and data systems, from mobile phones to microwave cooking, and from satnavs to weather forecasting. This transition has not been propelled by science fiction or sudden ambition, but by steady improvements in engineering, manufacturing and launch reliability that have altered what is economically viable. What was once defined by rare missions measured in years has evolved into an operational cadence measured in months and quarters.

Thanks to its ubiquity and myriad use cases, the space economy is projected to reach almost $1.8 trillion by 2035, up from $630 billion in 2023, according to insights published by the World Economic Forum. The world is not investing in space because it is glamorous.

For much of modern history, activity beyond the atmosphere was funded almost exclusively through public budgets and national programmes. Progress existed, but it was shaped more by procurement cycles and political priorities than by commercial demand. Entire generations passed between major milestones, and private participation was constrained not by imagination, but by feasibility and cost. By 2025, a rocket was launched somewhere in the world every 27 hours.

This acceleration has not been driven solely by renewed private interest or lower launch costs, but by maturing manufacturing processes, expanded supply chains, and increasingly reliable deployment strategies. Taken together, these shifts have made a sustained presence in orbit no longer exceptional, but routine.

The question is no longer centred on the act of reaching orbit, but on what a sustained presence in space enables.

These streamlined factors have altered the entire structure of the industry. Singular missions have been replaced by an operational environment in which assets can be upgraded, replaced and iterated upon. This does not mean launching a space mission is simple or inexpensive, but it has become accessible in a way that allows for meaningful commercial development.

The question is no longer centred on the act of reaching orbit, but on what a sustained presence in space enables.

These streamlined factors have altered the entire makeup of the industry. Singular missions have been replaced by an operational environment where assets can be upgraded, replaced, and iterated upon. This does not mean it is more simple or inexpensive to launch a space mission, but it is accessible in a way that allows commercial development.

Once missions become routine, the defining question shifts from whether something can be sent into orbit to what becomes possible when being there is no longer the primary constraint.

Space is now an environment with its own economic characteristics. The value lies not in the launch itself, but in the conditions encountered after lift-off. A different framework of physical rules, cost structures and operational trade-offs enables entirely new forms of activity.

Some applications extend existing systems, but with fundamentally different properties. Connectivity that operates independently of terrestrial infrastructure adds resilience when ground networks are disrupted or deliberately constrained. Observations, such as those used by satellites to analyse weather patterns or climate change, have evolved from periodic surveys into continuous measurement, shaping decisions across logistics, agriculture and infrastructure development. Navigation and timing systems are also integral to automation, transport and financial markets, where precision and reliability are economic necessities rather than technical luxuries.

It is this amplification of application that has driven some of the most compelling developments. Consider proposals by companies such as Lonestar, Starcloud and SpaceX to place data centres on the moon or in orbit. Infrastructure once assumed to be exclusively terrestrial is now exploring orbital configurations that exploit thermal and energy dynamics unavailable on Earth.

From an investor’s perspective, the central question is not whether space enables new activities, but how a company converts that capability into a business model that can scale and compound over time.

Every transformative technology passes through a phase in which technical progress outpaces commercial structure, and space is moving through that period now. Infrastructure is being built, applications tested, and demand is coalescing across communications, observation, materials science and security. An entire industry is maturing in real time.

This is exciting because what ultimately determines outcomes is how effectively innovation integrates into real economic systems. Businesses that solve recurring problems, embed seamlessly into workflows and deliver measurable advantages are the ones that create lasting value. Those that rely solely on novelty or speculative scale, by and large, do not.

None of this diminishes the scale of the opportunity; it clarifies it. Space technologies are expanding what can be built, measured and manufactured in ways that were previously inaccessible, and the commercial landscape is characterised by an abundance of potential applications.

Space is increasingly entering the vocabulary of multiple industries, and the opportunity lies in recognising which capabilities evolve into necessity rather than remain peripheral.

The nature of SpaceX’s intended IPO is viewed by some as a catalyst for raising the profile of the entire sector, notes Nick Flitterman of Portland Advisers. “The higher the profile of space, the more money will flow into it,” Money Week. Space is no longer defined by the difficulty of reaching it, but by the practicality of operating within it. As industries adapt and new capabilities materialise, space will function increasingly as an extension of our terrestrial systems.

At Arbra, the strategy we use to identify opportunity is not about recognising the expansion of possibility alone, but about understanding how that possibility will be adopted beyond the fringes of any given industry; in this case, space. The distinction between fascination and necessity will define which businesses endure, and ultimately, which are positioned to go beyond any final frontier.