The space economy is rapidly growing — last year, it was worth $626.4 billion globally, and projections estimate it will be worth
$1.8 trillion by 2035. The United States produces approximately half of that value as of 2023. This includes everything from rocket launches to satellite broadband subscriptions to images of Earth used to monitor deforestation or inform military action.
Beyond GDP growth, jobs in this sector tend to have above-average salaries for workers, whether they have a high school diploma or an advanced degree. This has led to strong competition between states and localities to retain and grow the space industry’s presence in their backyard.
This engagement from states and localities is good for the nation’s space competitiveness. The benefits of intracountry competition extend beyond the borders of the United States — it’s actually our biggest geopolitical competitor’s secret weapon in their space program. Chinese provinces and municipalities compete to develop the strongest technologies, leading to massive investment beyond the central government. For example, the Shanghai municipal government recently announced a 300 million yuan (roughly $4.4 million) package of investments for its local space industry — from subsidies to industrial park infrastructure to favorable loan terms. Beijing is a strong competitor for Shanghai, with both producing satellite broadband constellations that compete with American services like Starlink.
The United States should not emulate China — there is a reason the U.S. is the global space leader — but as geopolitical competition heats up, the nation should glean insights about what’s working abroad and apply them to the American context while avoiding the pitfalls of foreign approaches, such as excessive debt and waste. In this case, it points to the increased role governors and mayors across the country can take to develop their space industry in a fiscally sustainable manner. State and local investment cannot replace federal space spending, but it is highly complementary.
There are strongholds across the country for this industry, which has a presence of some kind in just about every state. States and cities have used different playbooks to retain and attract this industry, but there are key tactics that pop up repeatedly. This includes:
This report examines the strategies of states and localities across the nation to inform states and cities thinking about how they can retain and grow their space industry.
