Space Capital and Nasdaq: A New Home for the Space Economy

The space economy has evolved from a niche VC theme into a macro-relevant asset class. The capital, the infrastructure, and the companies have always been real. What's changing is who's paying attention.

Every major technology revolution in the last fifty years has passed through Nasdaq. The electronic exchange in 1971. Apple and Microsoft in the 1980s. The internet boom. The mobile era. The AI hyperscalers today. In each case, Nasdaq didn't just list the companies, it helped the world understand what was happening and why it mattered.

As Jeff Thomas, Executive Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer and Global Head of Listings, Capital Access Platforms, at Nasdaq, put it: "Nasdaq has been there to support every major technology revolution. We fully expect to play the same role as the space economy comes to the forefront."

That moment is now.

The global economy runs on space. It has for thirty years, most people just haven't noticed.

GPS, built from 24 satellites, generated trillions of dollars of GDP. Today, 18,000 satellites are in orbit. By 2040, that number will reach 2M+ driven by AI, geopolitics, and the orbital compute race now underway between SpaceX, NVIDIA, and Google. The FY2026 U.S. defense budget is roughly $1 trillion, with a record $1.5 trillion proposed for FY2027 and space, cyber, and AI explicitly prioritized. 

Q1 2026 marked the most consequential quarter in space economy history. A record $36 billion invested across 148 companies in a single quarter, shattering every previous benchmark. The SpaceX IPO, reportedly targeting a $75B raise at a $1.75T+ valuation, has forced institutional allocators to reassess just how large and strategically important the space economy has become.

These are not adjacent stories. They are the same story. Space-based technologies are no longer a niche asset class. They are the rails of the global economy for the next fifty years and the investment community is catching up to what Space Capital has been building toward since 2012.

Space Capital and Nasdaq are partnering to bring that intelligence to the world's most important financial stage.

Each quarter, the Space IQ Briefing will be filmed and published from Nasdaq MarketSite, putting space economy intelligence at the center of the conversation where it belongs. Our Q1 briefing, the first from our new home, covered the SpaceX IPO and capital efficiency benchmark, the orbital data center land grab, NASA's restructuring around commercial capability, satcom's inflection point, and what a $20 billion lunar base commitment means for the companies already building on the surface — with on-camera conversations from portfolio CEOs Max Haot of Vast and Justin Cyrus of Lunar Outpost. Each quarter we will break down where capital is flowing, what's being built across the Infrastructure, Distribution, and Applications layers of the space economy, and what it means for the trajectory of the most significant technology build-out of our time.

This is the beginning of an ongoing editorial partnership. Nasdaq and Space Capital will collaborate on content, analysis, and programming that helps investors, founders, and operators understand the space economy at the depth it deserves.

The Space Capital Summit will be held at Nasdaq MarketSite on June 26, 2026 — an invite-only gathering of the founders, investors, and operators defining the next era of the space economy.

GPS took forty years to compound into the invisible backbone of the global economy. The next layer is being built faster, with more capital, and in full view of the public markets.

‍Watch: The Q1 2026 Space IQ Briefing at Nasdaq MarketSite

Read: How Nasdaq Is Supporting The Space Economy

Watch: Chad Anderson Live from MarketSite Interview

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