SEI Report
September 2026 – Space Economy Index
INDEX COMPONENTS
Space-Economy Momentum Accelerates
The Space Economy Index (SEI) rose sharply in September 2026, reaching 129.7, up from 99.1 in August.
This represents an increase of 30.6 index points month over month and places the index decisively above its June 2026 baseline of 100.
The September increase was not driven by launch activity. Orbital launch activity remained exactly at the established baseline. Instead, the acceleration came primarily from exceptionally strong investment activity, alongside elevated research and strategic competition across the global space economy.
September 2026 SEI: 129.7
August 2026 SEI: 99.1
Monthly change: +30.6 index points
Base month: June 2026 = 100
September Data Pools
The Short-Term SEI is constructed from four equally weighted Data Pools: Launch Activity, Investment, Research and Space Competition.
Launch Activity — 5.00 / 10
Global orbital launch activity remained at the SEI baseline during September.
A total of 27 orbital launch attempts were recorded during the month, matching the fixed SEI baseline of 27 launches per month.
As a result, the Launch Activity score remained at:
5.00 / 10
Launch activity therefore provided a neutral contribution to September’s acceleration. The increase in the overall SEI came from developments elsewhere in the space economy.
Investment — 10.00 / 10
Investment was the strongest component of the September SEI.
The month saw an unusually high concentration of major financing rounds across launch, spacecraft manufacturing, orbital transportation, Earth observation, in-space manufacturing and satellite infrastructure.
Confirmed eligible private investment exceeded the level required to reach the maximum score under the SEI methodology.
Among the major financing events were rounds involving Stoke Space, The Exploration Company, Open Cosmos, Impulse Space, Varda, EnduroSat, Hubble Network, PLD Space and Pixxel.
Under the SEI v1.0 methodology:
$1.40B monthly investment = 5.00 / 10
The maximum score is reached at $2.80B of eligible monthly investment.
Confirmed September investment exceeded this threshold.
Investment Score: 10.00 / 10
This was the principal driver of the September increase.
Research — 8.00 / 10
Research and technology development remained elevated during September.
Activity was assessed across five dimensions:
New technology with economic potential
Successful technology demonstrations
Major scientific or engineering progress
Scientific, academic and industrial collaboration
Technology Readiness Level advancement
September included several significant developments.
Spectrum successfully reached orbit from continental Europe, representing an important technology and launch-system demonstration. FLEX and Sentinel-3C entered orbit, while the SMILE mission completed commissioning and moved toward science operations.
Additional progress occurred across propulsion, robotic servicing and other emerging space technologies.
The final Research assessment was:
R1 — New technology with economic potential: 0.75
R2 — Successful technology demonstration: 1.00
R3 — Major scientific or engineering progress: 0.75
R4 — Scientific / academic / industrial collaboration: 0.75
R5 — Increase in Technology Readiness Level: 0.75
Research Score: 8.00 / 10
Space Competition — 9.00 / 10
Strategic activity across the global space economy remained exceptionally high during September.
The Competition Data Pool evaluates five dimensions:
Moon / Mars / Deep Space Progress
Competition among Nations & Commercial Actors
Major International Cooperation
Military & Space Security Developments
National Space Policy / Budget / Strategic Initiatives
September included significant developments across all five areas.
New national space strategies and funding commitments strengthened sovereign space capabilities. Commercial competition intensified across launch and orbital infrastructure. International partnerships expanded, while military and space-security programs continued to advance.
The final assessment was:
Moon / Mars / Deep Space Progress: 0.75
Competition among Nations & Commercial Actors: 1.00
Major International Cooperation: 0.75
Military & Space Security Developments: 1.00
National Space Policy / Budget / Strategic Initiatives: 1.00
Space Competition Score: 9.00 / 10
A high Competition score represents the intensity of strategic and competitive activity, not whether those developments are inherently positive or negative.
Composite Economic Score
The four Data Pools carry equal weight in SEI v1.0.
| Data Pool | September Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Launch Activity | 5.00 | 25% |
| Investment | 10.00 | 25% |
| Research | 8.00 | 25% |
| Space Competition | 9.00 | 25% |
The September Composite Economic Score is therefore:
(5.00 + 10.00 + 8.00 + 9.00) ÷ 4 = 8.00
Converted to the CES scale:
September CES = 80.0
SEI Calculation
June 2026 remains the official base month:
June CES = 61.7
June SEI = 100
September is indexed against that baseline:
SEI = (September CES ÷ June CES) × 100
SEI = (80.0 ÷ 61.7) × 100
September 2026 SEI = 129.7
SEI Trend
| Month | CES | SEI |
|---|---|---|
| June 2026 | 61.7 | 100.0 |
| July 2026 | 56.1 | 90.9 |
| August 2026 | 61.15 | 99.1 |
| September 2026 | 80.0 | 129.7 |
September marks the strongest reading since the SEI baseline was established.
After declining to 90.9 in July and recovering toward the baseline in August, space-economy momentum moved decisively above the June reference level in September.
September Signal
Momentum accelerates.
September represents a different pattern from August.
August’s increase largely represented a recovery toward the June baseline. September moved substantially beyond it.
Importantly, this acceleration occurred while launch activity remained at its baseline level.
The movement instead came from other layers of the space economy — particularly capital formation, technology development and strategic competition.
This distinction is central to the SEI.
The index is designed to track the broader momentum of the space economy rather than relying on a single activity such as launch cadence.
August 2026: 99.1
September 2026: 129.7
+30.6 index points
Methodology Note
The September report represents the fourth monthly SEI observation.
The Short-Term SEI is therefore available, while the Long-Term SEI and Effective SEI remain unpublished until six months of data have accumulated.
The baseline parameters used for Launch and Investment remain fixed during the initial 12-report calibration period.
SEI measures momentum and structural activity within the global space economy. An increase from 99.1 to 129.7 should therefore not be interpreted as the total space economy growing by 30.9%.
It indicates that measured space-economy momentum during September was substantially stronger relative to both August and the June 2026 reference month.
SEI September 2026 — 129.7
Measure. Understand. Participate.