Elon Musk has predicted the emerging space economy will grow far beyond Goldman Sachs’ $1.8 trillion projection, drawing fresh attention to leading space sector stocks.
“It will be much bigger,” Musk said on X in response to a post about Goldman’s “Second Space Age” report, adding “Space is bigger than big. Earth is super tiny by comparison.”
Goldman Sachs projects the global space economy will reach $1.8 trillion by 2035, with orbital infrastructure playing a growing role in communications, defense, artificial intelligence and logistics.
“Space is becoming a new pillar of the industrial economy,” Goldman said, noting that companies controlling launch capacity, satellite production, orbital infrastructure and space-derived data will shape where value accumulates.
The sector attracted more than $55 billion in investment in 2025 and a record $36 billion in the first quarter of 2026 alone, while aerospace companies raised $89 billion through IPOs since the start of 2025.
Goldman highlighted a dramatic drop in launch costs, pointing to a decline from $65,400 per kilogram aboard the Space Shuttle in 1981 to $1,500 using SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy today, with reusable rockets and cheaper manufacturing driving the expansion.
AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) is building a direct-to-smartphone broadband constellation, with 13 large communications satellites now in orbit, partnerships covering more than 3 billion mobile subscribers and a contracted backlog of $1.3 billion.
Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) posted record quarterly revenue of $234 million and a backlog of $2.36 billion, with recent contract wins including a $397 million Space Force deal, a $266 million Space Force contract and a $143 million MDA Space agreement supporting Globalstar’s direct-to-device network.
Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR) received authorization to proceed on a multi-satellite communications program worth more than $600 million, broadening its business beyond lunar landers into Earth science, defense spacecraft and communications infrastructure.
Redwire (NYSE: RDW) reported record quarterly revenue of $117.1 million, a record gross margin of 27.8% and a contracted backlog of $542.1 million, while also targeting microgravity drug development through its SpaceMD unit.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward ASTS, RKLB and RDW was rated “bearish” amid low message volume, while LUNR bucked the trend with “extremely bullish” sentiment and “extremely high” chatter.
Despite the positive long-term narrative, shares pulled back on Tuesday, with ASTS falling 6%, LUNR declining 5% and both RKLB and RDW dropping 4%.
Over the past year, LUNR surged 113%, RKLB climbed 76%, RDW gained 43% and ASTS rose 39%, reflecting strong investor interest in the sector ahead of what Musk believes will be an even larger opportunity than Goldman anticipates.
