The backbone of the new space economy is no longer government launch monopolies, but a fiercely competitive, capital-intensive transportation layer that moves people, payloads, and infrastructure beyond Earth at rapidly declining cost.

Reusable rockets, orbital transfer vehicles, lunar landers, and emerging space tugs now form a global logistics network capable of delivering satellites on demand, refueling stations in orbit, and—within this decade—routine passenger flights to private habitats and lunar surface assets.