ET Now Global Business Summit 2026: Jason Held flags ‘gold rush’ as global space economy set to double

Speaking at the ET Now Global Business Summit, he said the global space economy is set to double in the next five years. “The reality with space is it’s a $620 billion market that’s doubling in the next five years,” Held said. “The reason why we are going to space is because there is money there. There is a gold rush there.”

Space, according to him, is primarily an economic domain rather than a human settlement imperative. “We don’t need to go to space to live here on Earth.”

Satellites form the backbone of telecommunications, Earth observation, defence services and emerging manufacturing capabilities, he said, adding that most commercial returns today are coming from satellite deployment rather than human spaceflight. “The money being made today is being made in sending satellites up, not sending people,” he said.

Held said the sector’s transformation accelerated when satellites became smaller and cheaper to build. Previously, government satellites were “about the size of a school bus,” he said. Commercial satellites, by contrast, can be “roughly the size of a toaster”, making them viable for venture capital funding and startup participation.

Live Events

“It was the miniaturisation of space, not the Elon Musks and the Jeff Bezoses, that got this whole thing started,” he said.
Launch companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, he said, helped address the logistical challenge of moving large volumes of material into orbit at lower cost. But he divided the broader industry into three segments: rockets, satellites and operations, and data services.Held also highlighted advanced manufacturing in microgravity as an emerging area of commercial interest. Companies like Johnson & Johnson are investing heavily in research aboard the International Space Station, where, he said, microgravity enables “perfect crystallisation” and potentially improved pharmaceuticals. Silicon chips manufactured in space could be significantly faster than those produced on Earth, he added.

At the same time, Held cautioned that rapid growth is creating congestion challenges. He estimated that about 15,000 spacecraft are currently in orbit, increasing the risk of collisions in low Earth orbit and the geosynchronous belt. “There is no jurisdictional ownership of space,” he said. “If satellites collide, it creates a debris field that risks themselves as well as their adversary. So there’s a natural incentive for collaboration.”

He said this dynamic is driving demand for space traffic management services, a focus area for Saber Astronautics. He described the industry as “both an open door and a gated community”, noting that large prime contractors continue to dominate while startups seek to introduce disruptive technologies. He compared investment cycles in space to mining, with high upfront costs and delayed returns.

For investors, he advised focusing on commercial fundamentals. “Don’t sell the ‘sex appeal’ of the technology,” he said. “Get the investor motivated about the money you are going to make.”

Looking ahead, Held said that expansion to the Moon or Mars would likely occur as a gradual extension of commercial activity rather than a single transformative leap. “A Moon base and a Mars base – it is the inevitable march of growth of the industry,” he remarked.