The first launch of the Starlink broadband satellite constellation in May marks the beginning of what will soon be a multitrillion-dollar space economy. Following on its heels, NASA recently announced it will permit private companies and tourists to utilize the International Space Station. The space economy is here, and the opportunity is overwhelming: New markets, new systems, and new innovations have the potential to transform civilization, offering greater wealth for society, as well as potential solutions to climate, energy, and resource problems. The promise of the space economy is huge.

It is widely recognized among those who have studied space policy that for successful economic development, what is needed is an entrepreneurially driven, competitive market system, the decentralized model. But this requires the right “rules of the road,” the institutional framework that facilitates a competitive market system. To flourish, the space economy requires political reform to establish a legal framework that fosters imagination, entrepreneurial innovation, and a free market, not government direction and central planning.