Goldman Sachs' Global Institute has released a major report titled "The Second Space Age," clearly stating that space is rapidly evolving from a government-led frontier of exploration into a new institutional asset class. The report notes that with a sharp decline in launch costs, an influx of private capital, and fully open public market funding channels, space is becoming a "new pillar of the industrial economy."
Goldman Sachs highlights that the cost of sending one kilogram of payload into orbit has dropped from approximately $55,000 during the Space Shuttle era to around $3,000 today, a 95% decline within a generation. This cost revolution has fundamentally reshaped the underlying logic of the space economy, transforming it from a "high-barrier game" accessible only to national powers into an investable domain where commercial capital can enter on a large scale.
Michael Tarulli, Head of Aerospace and Defense Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs, stated that the convergence of declining launch costs, technological innovation, and artificial intelligence is propelling the space economy towards the trillion-dollar mark. Goldman Sachs predicts the global space economy will reach $1.8 trillion by 2035. On the investment side, global space ecosystem investments exceeded $55 billion in 2025, while the first quarter of 2026 alone saw a record $36 billion in investments. The firm believes that companies and nations controlling launch capabilities, manufacturing capacity, orbital infrastructure, and space-derived data will dominate value creation in the emerging space sector. The space economy is now forming its own supply chain, infrastructure nodes, and economic hubs.
This transformation is profoundly reshaping public markets. Goldman Sachs reports that aerospace companies have raised a cumulative $89 billion through IPOs since the start of 2025, describing this as "the broader institutionalization of space as a distinct industry within public equity markets." Goldman Sachs cites several recent landmark listing cases: SpaceX (SPCX.US) listed on the Nasdaq on June 12, 2026, at a price of $135 per share, issuing 555.6 million shares to raise $75 billion, with a listing valuation of approximately $1.77 trillion, setting a global IPO record. Goldman Sachs acted as a joint lead underwriter on the IPO, subsequently initiating coverage on SpaceX with a "Buy" rating and a $205 price target, positioning it as an infrastructure giant spanning space launch, satellite internet, and artificial intelligence. Firefly Aerospace (FLY.US) completed its IPO after a successful "Blue Ghost" lunar mission, raising approximately $999 million. York Space Systems (YSS.US) listed on the New York Stock Exchange on January 29, 2026, at $34 per share, raising about $629 million, positioning itself as a prime contractor in the national security space domain. HawkEye 360 (HAWK.US) listed on the NYSE on May 7, 2026, at $26 per share (the top of its pricing range), raising roughly $478 million, focusing on space-based signals intelligence data and analytics platforms.
Goldman Sachs emphasizes that opening public market funding channels is crucial because the next phase of space industrialization requires substantial upfront investment. Future capital needs span multiple dimensions, including expanding launch capacity, building satellite manufacturing plants, deploying lunar infrastructure, establishing space data platforms, and constructing highly resilient communication networks. The report states that companies combining technological execution with public market credibility will be better positioned to scale, integrate resources, and address key bottlenecks in the orbital economy. As space becomes more central to the economic system, the ability to access capital itself could become a competitive advantage.
In terms of market performance, Goldman Sachs' U.S. Space and Satellite Stock Basket (including SpaceX and others) has risen approximately 13% year-to-date (as of July 14, 2026), outperforming the S&P 500's 9.8% gain over the same period. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs has also launched an "Asia Space Economy Basket" (Bloomberg code: GSSZSPCE), covering 53 Asian-listed stocks, which has delivered a 28% return year-to-date, outperforming the MSCI Asia Technology Index by 15 percentage points. Goldman Sachs' conclusion is clear: space is no longer just science fiction or a national symbol; it is becoming an undeniable new dimension in global capital allocation.
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