Theme Overview
The space economy is projected to grow from $400 billion to over $1 trillion by 2030, driven by satellite constellations (Starlink alone plans 42,000+ satellites), space tourism, and eventual lunar/asteroid resource extraction. Each satellite requires aluminum alloys, copper wiring, solar-grade silicon and silver, and specialty metals for propulsion systems. SpaceX's Starship, designed for reusability at scale, uses stainless steel instead of traditional aerospace alloys -- if successful, this could meaningfully increase steel demand from space launch. Longer term, in-situ resource utilization (mining the Moon for helium-3, water ice, and rare metals) could fundamentally reshape commodity supply and demand in ways that are difficult to model today.