Rational Exuberance: Understanding Value and Performance in the Space Economy

Policymakers, commercial and government space stakeholders, and the space investment community rely on fair assessments of the space economy’s value and performance. However, accurate valuations are far from straightforward as various approaches have different strengths and weaknesses. This chapter evaluates multiple space sector valuation approaches. It also provides an overview of different estimation methods, tools for interpreting space sector valuations, and useful indexes to track publicly traded companies in the space sector. This is critical information for policymakers especially, for whom a solid grasp of the various space economy estimation methods is essential—because these estimates in turn influence many other important public policy decisions. 

Authors: Karen L. Jones and Brian Weeden

This paper was published in Space Agenda 2025, an effort by the Center for Space Policy and Strategy (CSPS) at The Aerospace Corporation to highlight and provide insights into some of the major space challenges facing policymakers. You can read the entire list of Space Agenda 2025 papers here.