Space Infrastructure: Investing in the Backbone of the Orbital Economy

Space is no longer about exploration — it’s becoming critical infrastructure. From launch services and satellite constellations to secure communications and Earth observation, a new orbital economy is taking shape. This post explores why the space sector is structurally positioned for long-term growth and highlights a basket of US-listed companies building the backbone of space-based data, defense, and connectivity — some already profitable, others scaling rapidly toward it. A long-term view on where capital, technology, and geopolitics are converging above Earth.

12/21/20253 min read

From exploration to infrastructure

For decades, space was treated as an experimental domain—science missions, prestige projects, and sporadic commercial use. That paradigm is now changing. Space is becoming economic infrastructure.

Just as railroads enabled industrial expansion and fiber optics enabled the internet, orbital infrastructure is enabling a new layer of economic activity above Earth: communications, data, defense, navigation, climate monitoring, and eventually in-space manufacturing and resource extraction. This transition is not speculative anymore. It is already visible in revenues, contracts, and balance sheets.

Why the space infrastructure sector is poised to grow

Several structural forces are converging:

  • Exploding data demand
    Earth observation, real-time monitoring, AI-driven analytics, and secure communications all require persistent satellite coverage.

  • National security and sovereignty
    Space has become a strategic domain. Governments are dramatically increasing spending on resilient satellite networks, sensors, and launch capabilities.

  • Commercialization of orbit
    Launch costs have collapsed relative to 20 years ago, enabling private operators to deploy and monetize constellations at scale.

  • High barriers to entry
    Capital intensity, regulatory complexity, and technical know-how create durable competitive moats once infrastructure is deployed.

The result is a sector with long project cycles, recurring revenues, and increasing operating leverage—a profile that historically produces strong long-term returns.

A balanced exposure: growth plus stability

The selection of space infrastructure companies focus on a mix of emerging space pure-plays and established defense-space leaders. This creates exposure to innovation while anchoring risk with companies that already generate stable cash flows. Below are the companies selected:

Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab started as a launch provider but is evolving into a full-stack space infrastructure company. Today it designs and manufactures satellites, space systems, and mission-critical components for both government and commercial customers.

  • Revenues have grown consistently over the last five years

  • Earnings remain negative, but margins are improving as scale increases

  • Clear path toward profitability as fixed costs are absorbed

Rocket Lab represents the growth engine of the portfolio.

Voyager Technologies

Voyager is focused on orbital infrastructure, including next-generation commercial space stations and platforms supporting sustained activity in low Earth orbit.

  • Positioned at the intersection of NASA programs and private commercialization

  • Long-duration contracts and strategic relevance

  • Early-stage economics, but aligned with where space activity is structurally heading

This is a forward-looking infrastructure bet on the post-ISS era.

Planet Labs

Planet operates the largest constellation of Earth-observation satellites, delivering high-frequency geospatial data to governments, agriculture, energy, and defense clients.

  • Strong and consistent revenue growth over multiple years

  • Improving gross margins as satellite infrastructure scales

  • Data subscriptions create recurring revenue dynamics

Planet is effectively building the “Google Maps of the planet in real time.”

Viasat

Viasat provides global satellite communications, including aviation connectivity, defense networks, and broadband services.

  • Short-term earnings pressure due to heavy investment cycles

  • Revenues remain resilient and strategically important

  • Long-term beneficiary of orbital data traffic growth

This is a turnaround-plus-infrastructure component of the allocation.

L3Harris Technologies

L3Harris is a defense and space heavyweight specializing in secure communications, sensors, and space payloads.

  • Consistent revenue and earnings growth over the last five years

  • Strong free cash flow generation

  • Direct exposure to increased space and defense budgets

L3Harris provides stability, cash flow, and discipline to the portfolio.

Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman is one of the most critical players in space systems, launch vehicles, missile defense, and deep-space missions.

  • Decades of consistent earnings and revenue growth

  • Mission-critical role in US and allied space programs

  • High visibility contracts and long project lifecycles

Northrop is core infrastructure, not a speculative play.

Earnings today vs. earnings tomorrow

Not all companies in this basket are currently profitable—but that is by design, not by accident.

Infrastructure sectors typically follow this pattern:

  1. Heavy upfront investment

  2. Temporary earnings pressure

  3. Rapid operating leverage once utilization rises

Several of these companies already show five years of consistent revenue growth, and where earnings are still negative, the trend points clearly toward profitability.

This is the same economic dynamic seen historically in railroads, telecom networks, and cloud computing.

Space is no longer about rockets—it is about systems, data, and persistence. The companies selected here are not betting on science fiction. They are building the physical and digital backbone of the orbital economy.

As space activity continues to industrialize, these companies are positioned to be long-term beneficiaries of a structural shift, not short-term hype cycles.