SEI Report

August 2026 – Space Economy Index

September 7, 2026 · 7 min read

Executive Summary

The Space Economy Index (SEI) recorded 99.1 for August 2026, with June 2026 (SEI = 100) maintained as the official baseline month.

Following July’s decline to 90.9, the index recovered substantially in August, returning close to its baseline level. The underlying Composite Economic Score (CES) increased from 56.1 in July to 61.15 in August, resulting in an approximately 9.0% month-over-month increase in the SEI.

The recovery was driven primarily by a significant improvement in capital formation. Investment moved above its reference level after a weak July, while orbital launch activity remained stable. Research activity continued to show strong scientific and technological progress, and strategic competition remained elevated across the global space sector.

August therefore presents a different economic picture from July: the improvement in momentum did not come from higher launch cadence, but from stronger activity in the economic layers surrounding space operations—particularly capital formation.

The SEI does not measure the absolute size of the global space economy. It measures changes in economic momentum by combining operational activity, investment, research progress, and strategic competition.

Monthly Results

August recovered most of the momentum lost in July, leaving the index only slightly below its June reference level.

Understanding the SEI

The Space Economy Index is built from four equally weighted Data Pools, each representing a fundamental driver of the global space economy:

• Launch Activity
• Investment
• Space Research
• Space Competition

Each Data Pool is independently evaluated on a standardized 0–10 scale and contributes 25% to the monthly Composite Economic Score (CES).

The SEI combines operational, financial, scientific, technological, and strategic signals rather than relying on any single measure of space-sector activity.

The monthly CES is then indexed against the official base month:

June 2026 = SEI 100

For August:

SEI = (61.15 / 61.7) × 100 = 99.1

This allows monthly changes in the underlying momentum of the space economy to be tracked while maintaining a consistent reference point.

Data Pool Results

Launch Activity

Score: 4.81 / 10

The Launch Activity Data Pool measures the operational level of global orbital launch activity.

During August 2026, 26 orbital launch attempts were recorded worldwide, unchanged from July and slightly below the current operational reference level of 27 attempts per month.

As a result, the Launch Activity score remained:

4.81 / 10

August still included several significant missions across scientific, commercial, and infrastructure-related activity. However, the Launch Data Pool measures operational cadence, not the scientific value, payload value, or strategic importance of individual missions.

This distinction is particularly relevant in August. The overall SEI recovered significantly even though the number of orbital launch attempts did not increase.

Launch activity therefore provided a stable operational foundation during the month, but was not the driver of August’s recovery.

Investment

Score: 5.65 / 10

Investment produced the largest positive movement across the four Data Pools in August.

Approximately $1.58 billion in qualifying disclosed capital was identified during the reporting period, moving investment above the current $1.40 billion monthly reference level.

Major qualifying capital events included:

• SpaceSail / Shanghai Yuanxin — approximately $1.035 billion
• Muon Space — $250 million
• Starcloud — $250 million
• Hubble Network — $30 million
• Letara — approximately $16 million

This represented a substantial recovery from July:

July: 2.61 → August: 5.65

The Investment Data Pool includes newly committed capital that contributes to future economic capacity, including private financing, strategic investment, manufacturing expansion, research infrastructure, and qualifying development capital.

Previously announced financing, routine procurement, launch-service purchases, acquisitions without new capital creation, and transactions without sufficient evidence of new committed capital are excluded.

August therefore marked a clear shift in capital formation.

After being the largest drag on the SEI in July, Investment became the principal positive driver of the August recovery.

Space Research

Score: 7.00 / 10

Scientific and technological activity remained strong during August.

One of the month’s most significant developments was the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, bringing a major new scientific infrastructure into space and expanding future capacity for astronomical observation and research.

The month also included progress across reusable launch technology, spacecraft systems, technology demonstrations, and engineering development.

The Research Data Pool evaluates activity across five dimensions:

• New technology with economic potential
• Successful technology demonstrations
• Major scientific or engineering progress
• Scientific, academic, or industrial collaboration
• Technology Readiness Level advancement

August showed meaningful activity across several of these categories.

At the same time, Etemion’s scoring framework distinguishes between strong progress and exceptional structural breakthroughs. Some technology programs also experienced setbacks during the month, limiting the case for a higher score.

Research therefore remained at:

7.00 / 10

The result indicates that scientific and technological development continued to provide a strong underlying contribution to the space economy, even without a significant month-over-month increase in the Data Pool itself.

Space Competition

Score: 7.00 / 10

Competition across the global space sector remained high during August, although the score moderated from July’s 8.00.

Competitive activity was visible across several layers of the space economy.

SpaceSail continued expanding China’s position in satellite broadband infrastructure. Europe advanced initiatives related to sovereign launch capability and secure connectivity, including the European Launcher Challenge and IRIS². Reusable launch development continued to increase competitive pressure in launch markets, while national-security space programs reinforced demand for sensing, communications, and space-domain capabilities.

The Space Competition Data Pool evaluates five areas:

• Moon, Mars and Deep-Space Programs
• Competition among nations and commercial actors
• Major international cooperation
• Military and space-security developments
• National space policy, budget and strategic initiatives

August showed strong activity across several of these dimensions.

However, the month’s developments were assessed as significant rather than exceptional. The conservative scoring approach therefore places Competition at:

7.00 / 10

This still represents a high level of strategic and commercial activity across the global space economy.

Data Pool Summary

The composition of August’s result is clear: Investment improved sharply, Launch and Research remained stable, and Competition moderated while remaining strong.

What Drove August’s Result?

Capital Formation Returned

The most important change was the recovery in investment.

Qualifying capital increased to approximately $1.58 billion, moving above the monthly reference level and reversing much of the weakness observed in July.

This was the primary reason the overall SEI moved back toward 100.

Launch Activity Remained Stable

Orbital launch cadence did not increase.

August recorded 26 attempts, the same as July.

This means the improvement in the SEI came from other layers of the space economy rather than from higher operational launch activity.

Research Maintained Strong Momentum

Scientific missions, technology development, and engineering progress continued to support the sector.

The launch of the Roman Space Telescope was a particularly important addition to future scientific infrastructure, while broader technology development maintained Research at a strong level.

Competition Remained Elevated

Strategic competition continued across satellite networks, launch systems, secure connectivity, defense capabilities, and sovereign space infrastructure.

However, August contained fewer developments that justified the unusually elevated competitive intensity recorded in July, resulting in a moderation from 8.0 to 7.0.

Methodological Notes

The Space Economy Index follows a consistent monthly framework designed to measure changes in space-economy momentum.

The methodology is based on several core principles:

• Equal weighting across all four Data Pools
• Standardized 0–10 scoring
• Global coverage
• Defined monthly reporting windows
• Objective operational metrics where measurable
• Structured assessment for qualitative indicators
• Conservative treatment of uncertain developments
• Clear inclusion and exclusion rules
• Prevention of double counting
• Consistent methodology across reporting periods

For Research and Competition, Etemion uses a structured five-criterion assessment. Individual criteria are evaluated using discrete scoring bands, allowing significant developments to be distinguished from routine activity and genuinely exceptional events.

The purpose of this structure is not to reward the number of headlines generated during a month, but to measure the economic significance of the underlying developments.

The complete SEI methodology is publicly available, while Etemion’s detailed analytical framework and internal scoring engine remain proprietary.

Looking Ahead

The first three months of the SEI now form an early but increasingly informative sequence:

June 2026 — 100.0

July 2026 — 90.9

August 2026 — 99.1

After the decline observed in July, August recovered almost completely to the June baseline.

But the composition of that recovery matters.

Launch activity remained unchanged.

Instead, the strongest improvement came from capital formation, while Research remained strong and Competition continued at an elevated level.

This creates an important early signal for the SEI:

Space-economy momentum can recover even when launch cadence does not.

The economic system surrounding launch—capital, technology, infrastructure, and competition—can move independently and materially change the broader picture.

As additional monthly observations are added, the SEI will increasingly reveal whether these movements represent temporary fluctuations or the beginning of longer-term structural trends.

For August, the central signal is:

The space economy recovered strongly from July, returning close to its June momentum level, with renewed capital formation providing the primary source of improvement.