One number now appears in nearly every strategy paper on space. By 2035, the space economy is said to be worth 1.8 trillion dollars. It comes from a study by the World Economic Forum and McKinsey published in April 2024, which started from 630 billion dollars in 2023 and assumed growth at close to twice the rate of the global economy. Goldman Sachs adopted it this year. It sits in ministerial briefings, in fund prospectuses, in hearing transcripts. People read it the way they read an exchange rate.