The Economic Impacts of the Commercial Space Industry

Abstract

The market structure of government investment domination in the space industry is being disrupted as commercial companies began working in the commercial space sector. As the 1960s was known as a government-funded space race, the 21st century may be known as a private interest space race. U.S. policy intended to speed innovation and drive costs down by expanding the role of commercial space companies. Hence, the 2018 orbiting sports car, yet more importantly, reusable rockets, satellites, and associated services developed as a result of the deliberate shift in government policy starting with the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984.As growth is expected to accelerate, input-output analysis is useful to predict what industries will benefit and inform the government in their policy decisions. Using a benchmarked growth rate, this research constructed the projected economic impact of yearly growth in commercial space on the U.S. and Florida economies and industries. Growth in the sector not only spurs growth in higher labor income jobs but also causes growth in jobs in other sectors, some of which also have higher than average labor income. Furthermore, growing these types of jobs would have a positive influence on the U.S. and Florida's economy and tax revenues.