In recent years, the commercial space domain has seen a dramatic emergence of an ecosystem of space ventures, including start-ups and established companies, seeking to translate technical possibility into actual market opportunity. Aside from launches, GPS, radio frequency signal location, satellite communications and imagery, profitable self-sustaining space markets remain elusive.
And yet a seemingly endless array of forecasts from leading banks and various analytical firms forecast growth from the current global space economy of $630 billion to some predictions calling for at least $1.6 billion within the next six years. One major bank predicts that the commercial space market will expand to as much as $3 trillion within thirty years. "A few years ago, a senior official with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)— China’s main state-run space contractor — was even quoted as stating that a “space economic zone” between the Earth and the moon could generate as much $10 trillion a year for China by 2050." Even when placed in the context of today’s global economy of $100 trillion, with some forecasts saying that figure will double to nearly $200 trillion by 2050, these predictions appear problematic given the lagging revenue profile of most of today’s new space companies.
Moderated by Beyond Earth’s Executive Vice President, Courtney Stadd, this Webinar brings together prominent subject experts who will focus on the nature of the data that make up the current global space market analysis, the nature of future forecasts, including what is behind the methodology. We will also discuss to what extent these forecasts should be trusted in terms of guiding investment strategies by the capital markets, as well as the government which is increasingly relying on the commercial space sector as a critical partner and customer.
Panelists:
Courtney Stadd, Executive Vice President, Beyond Earth Institute
Courtney Stadd is Founder/President, Capitol Alliance Solutions, LLC, a Washington, DC based management consulting firm whose clients include a wide range of pioneering commercial space actors. For nearly 40 years, Stadd’s career path has been a mix of senior government leadership and corporate executive jobs – primarily focused on encouraging the removal of policy and regulatory barriers to the emergence of a competitive American-led commercial space marketplace.
Courtney has held multiple senior positions at the US Department of Commerce, the US Department of Transportation, the White House, and worked directly for three NASA Administrators, including as Chief of Staff/White House Liaison. As Senior Director of the White House National Space Council, he helped draft numerous Presidential directives encouraging a competitive commercial space industry, including commercial space guidelines which have governed executive agency use of commercial space products and services for over 30 years.
George Pullen, Chief Economist, MilkyWayEconomy
George is a free-market economist, who for the last decade has been refining his economic philosophies as a Senior Economist at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington, DC. He is driven by a curiosity and passion for convergence, connecting people and ideas across diverse disciplines and finding new questions that need answers. Prior to joining the CFTC and launching the Milky Way Economy, LLC, George learned his craft serving as an executive as a banker, broker, hedge fund trader, economist and lecturer. His areas of market expertise, research and publishing include: healthcare finance, energy speculation, blockchain policy, rare earths, derivatives trading, defense innovation, AI/ML, risk modeling, fourth industrial revolution tech, equity crowdfunding and Space Economics.
Lesley Conn, Director of Research and Digital Programing, Space Foundation
Lesley Conn is director of Research & Digital Programming at Space Foundation. She oversees content for The Space Report and Symposium 365 digital programming. She and her research team produce an annual analysis of the global space economy, which has been a foundational analysis for the space industry since 2006. The Space Report also includes regular analysis of global workforce issues, space infrastructure and space policy issues. Prior to joining Space Foundation in 2019, Conn was an editor and writer at Gulfstream Aerospace.
Kevin O’Connell, Founder & CEO, Space Economy Rising
Kevin M. O’Connell is a recognized expert on space commerce, the global space economy, global intelligence activities, and U.S. national security matters. For almost four decades, he has focused on space commercialization and technological competitiveness and how to advance them in global markets. He has also focused on how these innovations impact U.S. and allied national security.
Mr. O’Connell is the CEO of Space Economy Rising, a firm that provides advisory services to space companies, related high-tech companies, and stakeholders in the space economy. In this capacity, Mr. O’Connell provides strategy, finance, and regulatory advice, helps investors assess space market trends, and identifies opportunities for increased participation in the space economy. Aside from several private sector boards, he Chairs the Advisory Board of the Institute of Space Commerce and sits on the advisory boards of Foundation for the Future and the Association of Commercial Space Professionals.
Mr. O’Connell is the 2024 winner of the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation’s Lundahl-Finney lifetime achievement award for his enduring work on geospatial issues and space commercialization. Mr. O’Connell’s prior role was as Director of the Office of Space Commerce (OSC) within the U.S. Department of Commerce, from 2018-2021. He was the principal advocate in the U.S. government for the commercial space industry, including identifying new ways to facilitate innovation and increase market
size. He focused on the growing role of the private sector in space, encouraged new space partnerships, worked to ensure the competitiveness of the U.S. commercial space industry, encouraged regulatory reform, and advanced American leadership in space safety and sustainability. Mr. O’Connell has testified before Congress on seven occasions about space policy and regulatory issues, U.S. space competitiveness, and the growth of space commerce. He was awarded the Vice President’s Dedicated Service Award for his support to the National Space Council.
Mr. O’Connell also expanded international outreach on space commerce with a wide range of U.S. allies and partners to promote new partnerships, effective regulation, and to advance space safety and sustainability. His overseas space activities included participation in the U.S.-Japan Comprehensive Space Dialogue, as a member of a Space Delegation to Luxembourg, and high-level discussions with the EU, India, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Commonwealth partners. These discussions about space policy and global market issues have continued since his departure from government. Mr. O’Connell’s previous government roles includes positions in The Department of Defense, The Department of State, The National Security Council, Office of the Vice President, and Office of the Director of Central Intelligence. Within the private sector, Mr. O’Connell was a senior research analyst for almost a decade at RAND and served as the first Director of RAND’s Intelligence Policy Center. In 2007, he founded Innovative Analytics and Training, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in assessing high-tech market trends in areas of space and geospatial markets, cloud computing, and cyber analytics.
Mr. O’Connell is a recognized expert on the policy, security, and commercial aspects of satellite remote sensing technologies and markets. He served as the Executive Secretary of the Independent Commission on the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) in 2000 and later as a senior advisor to theDirector, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. He was a long-standing member of NOAA’s federal advisory committee, ACCRES, including as Chair between 2012 and 2016.
Mr. O’Connell has been a regular author on space commerce and regulatory issues. Recent articles have covered the need for space mission authorization and the economic and business aspects of space sustainability. He contributed to "Space Policies for the New Space Age: Competing on the Final Economic Frontier,” by Bruce Cahan and Mir Sadat (NewSpace New Mexico, December 2020). Earlier, he co-authored Commercial Observation Satellites: at the Leading Edge of Global Transparency (ASPRS/RAND, 2000), which foreshadowed the roles that commercial satellites would have on global security matters.
Mr. O’Connell has over twenty years of teaching graduate courses in Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and the RAND Graduate School. Today, he is a frequent lecturer on space and space commerce at prominent academic and research organizations around the world, including MIT, SDA Bocconi, The George Washington University, Thunderbird School of Global Management, and the University of Tokyo. He is co-host of the Space Economy Insights podcast produced under the SpaceWatch.Global brand.
Chris Quilty, Co-CEO and President, Quilty Space
Chris Quilty began making his footprint in the satellite & space sector as a trusted authority, media pundit, and twice-recognized Wall Street Journal “Best on the Street” analyst more than two decades ago while serving as a sell-side analyst for Raymond James. Chris initiated coverage on the space industry in the mid-2000s and has subsequently published hundreds of company-specific, macro, sector, and thematic research reports.
Leveraging his vast space industry knowledge and a commitment to thought-leading research, Chris co-founded Quilty Space (formerly Quilty Analytics) in 2016 to equip stakeholders with the research, analysis, data, and business intelligence tools needed to help fuel the burgeoning space economy. Chris is regarded as a valued source of industry insight across all verticals of the space ecosystem — from manufacturing and launch through satcom, EO, hardware, and downstream analytics. He is a frequent and trusted consultant to the full range of satellite & space investors and stakeholders, from leading prime contractors and government agencies to satellite operators and technology companies.
Chris earned a B.S. in Systems Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and an MBA from The University of Chicago.
Tina Highfill, Senior Research Economist, Bureau of Economic Analysis
Tina Highfill is a senior research economist at Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), part of the US Department of Commerce. Tina leads research and development of high-profile and innovative economic analyses, including several that originated from the US Congress. Tina’s work at BEA includes a recently launched project to measure the space economy, including its contribution to US gross domestic product (GDP), among other macroeconomic statistics. These new statistics give business leaders and policymakers a new tool to analyze the space economy and inform investment decisions. Tina has authored numerous research articles in peer-reviewed publications and is recognized as a subject matter expert in economic measurement. Dr. Highfill has a bachelor’s from Virginia Tech, a master’s from The Johns Hopkins University, and a PhD from Virginia Commonwealth University.
