Orbital Economy: Business in Microgravity

Low Earth orbit is no longer just a place for experiments—it is becoming a marketplace. Orbital Economy: Business in Microgravity examines how commercial activity emerges when gravity disappears and entirely new operating conditions take over.
This book takes an economics-and-operations lens. It explores how microgravity changes manufacturing, research, servicing, and logistics in ways impossible on Earth. From high-purity materials and pharmaceuticals to in-space assembly, refueling, and platform services, the focus is on *why orbit enables value*, not just novelty.
Rather than treating space business as speculative, the book analyzes cost structures, supply chains, and demand signals that determine viability. Readers learn why launch cost is only one variable, how on-orbit servicing reshapes asset lifecycles, and why standardization and scale matter more than heroic missions.
This book examines:
• Why microgravity creates unique commercial advantages
• How orbital manufacturing differs from Earth-based production
• Where servicing, assembly, and reuse unlock revenue
• Why data, timing, and reliability define space business models
• How policy and regulation shape orbital markets
This book is for entrepreneurs, investors, engineers, and strategists evaluating space as an economic domain. If orbit is becoming a place to do business—not just science—this book explains how the orbital economy actually works.