Investing 2026: Why Space Economy Stocks Are Ready for Launch

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Years ago, when I first started working, there was a popular career maxim that went: “If you can see it, you can be it.”

Translation: Dream big, be creative and act with purpose and there’s no limit on what you can accomplish.

It’s great career advice. But it’s also a terrific descriptor for the Space Economy, a storyline we’ve been following since the early launch of Stock Picker’s Corner (SPC).

And here at SPC we’re “storyline” investors. We believe that if you find the best storylines, you’ll find the best stocks. We not only see the Space Economy as one of the hottest investing storylines of 2026, we see it as one of the top storylines for Wealth Builders for the rest of this decade — a prediction underscored by the disclosure that SpaceX, arguably the favorite company in the Elon Musk corporate keiretsu, will file for an initial public offering in 2026.

We’re talking about a market with a $5 trillion upside. Think of it like the economies of Germany ($4.9 trillion) or Japan ($4.3 trillion) orbiting the earth — with a little left over in either case.

One forecast has it hitting $1 trillion by 2030 — and the more I study this, the more I believe that earlier estimate could actually be “light.”

Here today — in this special update — I’m giving you a head start on the New Year. I’m outlining this opportunity. I’m breaking it down. I’ll even link you up with some of the research we’ve already done by the end of this outline for both free and SPC Premium readers (find out more about the benefits of “going Premium” here).

Let me start by answering the question I’m sure many of you are asking: Okay, Bill, just what the heck is the “space economy?”

Some Space Economy Math

It’s an intriguing thing about the “Space Economy” that it’s not limited to “stuff” that happens up in space.

We’re talking about any and all activities related to the use, exploration or defense of space — by government agencies, military forces, public and private companies, universities, research ventures, advocacy groups and other not-for-profit organizations. That last point is key: Non-profit groups are destined to play a big role in shaping the economy.

And we’re talking about manufacturing, services, research and more — both on earth and in space. This will include satellite systems, booster and payload construction, rocket launches, space services (like communications and Earth observation), in-space manufacturing, biotech, defense and a whole lot more.

As for that Space Economy forecast of $1 trillion by 2030 that I mentioned a moment ago: It came out of a joint study between the Oregon Consulting Group and the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch projected a $3 trillion market in the 2030s and other researchers see an upside near $5 trillion.

The key is that we see a ramp up starting in 2026. And I see a whole bunch of “Triggers” at work here — both micro and macro, including:

• “Macro Triggers” include “converging” storylines like the New Cold War, Deglobalization and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Era — which will combine to catalyze the need to operate in space.

• Such “Micro Triggers” as science, energy, manufacturing, extreme weather, and the New Golden Age of Aviation, which has ignited aerospace technologies.

• And that whole “imagineering” impact I mentioned at the outset? That’s all about innovation — about “seeing it and being it” impact, most of it driven by technology. And the space-based technology market – which cuts across defense, commerce, government and academia — was worth a hefty $466 billion last year and will hit nearly $770 billion by 2030, says Grand View Research. If those numbers tell us anything it’s this: My belief that the opportunity is understated is a truly valid one.

So let’s look at some of the juicy individual slices. And I’ll start with one of the biggest drivers of all: Defense.

Winning the High Ground

I covered the first Cold War — including the Reagan defense buildup, and the fall of the Berlin Wall — so when the New Cold War began, I knew what to look for.

First and foremost — follow the money. Or, more accurately, the spending. U.S. defense spending will hit $1.14 trillion by 2034 — or about 2.6% of GDP, says the U.S. Congressional Budget Office. From an all-time record of $2.72 trillion in 2024, global military spending is now expected to exceed $3.3 trillion (and maybe go as high as $3.6 trillion) by 2030.

And the Space Economy will be a major driver. Indeed, when we first started talking here about the New Cold War, I said one big difference is that we now have two new battlefields to fight over: Cyberspace and Outer Space.

And we’ll even see them combine.

With the United States now shifting into a more isolationist role, intelligence will be more important than ever — a fact that’s especially true now that it now has two superpower enemies in Russia and China.

We’ll see more spy satellites. And we’ll see a new category of weapons — called “satellite killers.”

With AI, the “total battlefield view” is possible — with high-powered chips and software able to stitch together data from satellites, aircraft, drones, armored vehicles, foot soldiers and other types of sensors, giving commanders a real-time view of the battlefield.

Russia has reportedly already orbited satellites like this — armed with nukes.

That led to a Pentagon program to partner the military with commercial companies for “quick turnaround” replacement satellite launches.

We’ve also got the Hypersonic Revolution — Mach 5 aircraft and rockets, super-maneuverable warheads, anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) weapons that are changing the defense landscape, and will escalate the flintiness between America, China and Russia.

Beijing wants to keep America out of the South China Sea and has fielded “carrier killers” — anti-ship missiles like the DF-21D and the Mach 10-capable, nuclear-tipped DF-17 (pictured).

It’s not just speed that makes this a dangerous weapon. A new category of maneuverable warheads – called hypersonic glide vehicles or boost gliders — will defeat most conventional missile-interceptors, driving research on new technologies.

Don’t count out America. Just this week, the respected newsletter The War Zone said U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s visit to Alabama’s Redstone Arsenal brought to light new details of the U.S. Army’s “Dark Eagle” — a trailer-mounted, long-range hypersonic weapon (LRHW) … and a missile that’ll let us “hit Mainland China from Guam.”

New defense systems — aided by AI — are being developed. Verified Market Reports says the hypersonics market will grow 17% a year and hit $29 billion by 2033 — and I believe those numbers are low.

Overall, modular satellites, new rocket boosters, telemetry and tracking, imaging, sensors, software, chips, launch (and recovery) services, testing and more add up to big bucks in space-related defense on a global scale — and none of the projections I see accurately capture the scope of the Wealth Builder window we see here.

And that’s just defense …

Let’s shift gears and consider the commercial side of the Space Economy ledger.

An Even Bigger Opportunity

If the global Space Economy was worth $613 billion in 2024 — 78% of it was on that commercial side of the ledger, the Space Foundation said in the 2025 edition of its Space Report.

Here are some slices of that:

• Satellites: We’re talking about building and launching them, which accounted for 61% of the Space Economy here in 2025.

• Space Payloads and Startups: It’s a business that could grow 12.5% annually, says MarketResearch.com.

• AI in Space: No surprise here – it’s projected to grow at a 22.3% annual clip between now and 2034, says MarketResearch.com.

• Energy: Still nascent, satellite solar power in low-earth orbit (LEO), space production of photovoltaic (PV) cells and the use of nuclear power plants for spaceflight, interplanetary missions or colonization.

• Biotech/Life Sciences: Space-based biopharma has real potential — including microgravity compound formation, crystallization and even regenerative life support. This could be a $10 billion business by decade’s end. And we could be looking at growth rates approaching 20%.

• Science and Exploration: This is the back end of the public-sector science missions – stewarded by America’s NASA or Europe’s ESA. And while those stewards are non-commercial, the work will benefit for-profit companies, both public and private. This will drive innovation in propulsion, robotics, sensors, imaging and research aided by telescopes and other space-based devices.

• Manufacturing/In-Space Services: Like many of the Space Economy “slices” I’ve listed here, this one cuts across others that I’ve mentioned. Making things in space. Better using earth-sourced materials. Mining materials from asteroids or other planets. It’s exciting. It’s a part of the Space Economy that could grow at an annual rate of 20% — traversing the $20 billion threshold by early in the next decade, says researcher Global Market Insights (see chart).

There’s more, too, but this is a good overview.

And there’s one other “Trigger” that we must mention — a key to the “Why Now?” call to action that will make 2026 THE year the Space Economy gets rolling.

It’s Elon Musk and the SpaceX IPO.

Musk is like the old EF Hutton: When he talks, people listen. His bullish pronouncements about SpaceX — arguably the favorite of his portfolio companies — will serve as “the rising tide that lifts all ships.”

The entire Space Economy will be supercharged by the SpaceX buzz. More investors than ever will learn about, get jazzed over, place investment bets on, think about, talk about and write about “Space Economy Stocks.”

And I’m talking about institutional investors — and everyday Wealth Builders like you and me.

But that “mass epiphany” will take time — maybe six months into the New Year.

We just gave you a big head start, and that brings me to three research reports I mentioned at the start.

1️⃣A free special-situation satellite briefing — one that shows how an 1800s ocean-cable-laying frenzy, and a U.S. Cold War program to “bug” the Soviet Navy, triggered a new satellite launching spree.

2️⃣A report on an earth imaging specialist that’s already up 40% since we first told our SPC Premium members about it a month ago.

3️⃣And a deep premium research dive on Rocket Lab Inc. $RKLB ( ▲ 17.69% ) — the feisty SpaceX rival that is one of the two 2026 Top Picks we were invited to provide to the MoneyShow.

I love great investing storylines, and our SPC Premium members told us this was something that wanted to hear more on in our recent poll.

We can “see” the huge potential here. You can be it.