Space to Grow: Unlocking the Final Economic Frontier
Matthew Weinzierl and Brendan Rosseau
Harvard Business Review Press (February 2025)

How space’s many elements fit together into a whole greater than the sum of its parts

According to Matthew Weinzierl and Brendan Rosseau, “Space is a place of unparalleled possibility for humanity and it is in the midst of a revolution. Space activities, once predominately government-led and centrally controlled, are increasingly being driven by companies as well as governments, by market forces as well as public priorities. This revolution, which sparked to life in the last few decades, is about not complete privatization but decentralization; not a removal of the public sector’s vital role in space but an integration of the private sector into an approach where both public and private actors play to their strengths. Above all, this revolution is about realizing the simple but unfamiliar truth that space is a [begin italics] place [end italics]: one in which, like all other places where humanity has sought out opportunity, both the governmental and market forces will play essential, complementary roles.”

They wrote Space to Grow in order to explain how and why “space is no longer just a site of geopolitical competition, scientific research, and exploration, though it remains that. It is becoming an ever-more-important site of value creation for businesses across industries and for society as a whole.”

They take you inside the decision-making at NASA, SpaceX, Blue Origin, Planet, Astroscale, the US Space Force and many more companies and organizations. “Just as important, we introduce and explain conceptual tools — typically developed by economists to analyze the terrestrial economy — that can help us understand these situations more clearly and draw broader lessons about what is happening and could happen in space.”

Here’s how Weinzierl and Rosseau organize information, insights, and counsel: “The first step of our framework focuses on efforts to [begin italics] establish the market [end italics] in space through decentralization, that is, moving away from having governments largely determine the who, what, when, where, why, and how of space activity…But the first step of establishing the market for space activities isn’t enough, because, as the 1FTWE [the First  Fundamental  Theorem of Welfare Economics] acknowledges in its ‘under certain conditions’ clause, markets often don’t work as well as theory might suggest. That brings us to the second step of our framework (and part two of the book): [begin italics] refine the market [end italics].

Later in the Introduction, they point out that ‘”societies are more than markets, and governments do more than help markets function well. The 1FTWE may be all about efficiency, but efficiency is only one of our priorities. If we want our new era in space to yield benefit for all, and if we want the market forces in space to help us pursue our broader societal objectives, we need to move on to the third step of our framework (and part three of our book): [begin italics] temper the market [end italics].”

Re the third and last step, Weinzierl and Rosseau acknowledge that the verb temper has many meanings, “the closest of which to our usage is ‘to attune.’ That is, we seek to govern the space economy so that its outcomes are in tune with society’s broader social objectives and priorities. Tempering the market means dealing with fundamental questions like property rights, the rule of law, and many others.”

These are among the passages of special interest and value to me, also listed to suggest the nature and scope of Weinzierl and Rosseau’s coverage:

o Introduction (Pages 1-10)
o NASA (15-16, 20-21, 21-29, 28-35, 31-33, 148-154, and 193-204)
o National security (18-19, 190-191, 229-232, 232-233, 234-238, 238-240, and 240-242)
o Changes in U.S. space program (26-29)
o Space issues (39-40, 70-71, 75-76, 92-100, and 210-211)

o Competition (46-47, 68-69, and 181-183)
o SpaceX (55-84)
o Satellites (68-70, 87-89, 91-92, 89-92,  598, 178-179, and 248-249)
o Planet (85-104, 88-89, 89-92, 94-100, 97-98, and 98-99)
o Space stations (105-125, 106-107, 111-114, 111-119, 118-125, and 140-141)

o Manufacturing (124-125 and 196-201)
o Investment in the space sector (127-143)
o Artemis (145-157)
o Space debris (163-180)
o Investment by a government (193-204)

I commend Matthew Weinzierl and Brendan Rosseau on their brilliant, substantial contributions to thought leadership throughout — and especially beyond — the global marketplace and highly recommend this material to all C-level executives and those who aspire to become one as well as to middle managers and those who are now preparing for a business career or have only recently embarked upon one.

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Here are two suggestions while you are reading Space to Grow: First, highlight passages of direct relevance to your own situation. Also,  perhaps in a notebook kept near-at-hand (e.g. Apica Premium C.D. Notebook A5), record your comments, questions, and action steps (preferably with deadlines). Pay special attention to the key points made in the paragraph that concludes each of the 12 chapters. Also, be sure to check out the Appendix (“Thoughts from Space Leaders” and the annotated “Notes” (Pages 259-293).

These two simple tactics — highlighting and documenting — will expedite frequent reviews of key material later.