THE SPACE ECONOMY: THE ULTIMATE CHEAT SHEET
The space economy is bigger than rockets. It’s developing across three major layers:
1. CONNECTIVITY
* $ASTS — Direct satellite-to-phone connectivity.
* $SPCX — Starlink satellite broadband.
* $VSAT — Connectivity for aviation, maritime and defense.
* $AMZN — Amazon Leo satellite internet.
2. INFRASTRUCTURE
* $SPCX — Reusable rockets, Starship and launch infrastructure.
* $RKLB — Rockets, spacecraft and satellite components.
* $FLY — Alpha rockets and Blue Ghost lunar landers.
* $BA — Aerospace manufacturing and NASA launch systems.
* $TSLA — Robotics and energy storage infrastructure.
* $EQIX / $DLR — Data center and interconnection infrastructure.
3. COMPUTE
* $SPCX — AI infrastructure and exploration of orbital computing.
* $NVDA / $AMD — AI chips and computing hardware.
* $MSFT / $META / $GOOGL — Cloud, AI models and infrastructure.
* $ORCL / $CRWV / $NBIS — Expanding AI cloud and compute capacity.
THE BIG PICTURE
What makes SpaceX particularly interesting is its ambition to connect launch infrastructure, satellite connectivity and AI computing.
Very few companies are positioned across all three layers. SpaceX is arguably the most integrated contender, although orbital data centers remain an emerging concept.
Who captures the most value as the space economy develops — the launch providers, connectivity companies or compute infrastructure players?
