Launching Expectations: Exploring the Role of the State in the Creation of New Space Launch Markets

Our article examines how UK Governmental entities set out to establish a space launch market, by locating an empirical analysis of policy documents, reports, and reviews published by various governmental agencies, Parliamentary hearings, media reports, and investment data, within broader conceptual debates about “New Space.” We investigate expectations of UK policy actors about the prospects of developing this market, through the analysis of three linked “storylines” about technoeconomic, policy, and status expectations. We address the different roles UK Governmental agencies have played in realizing these prospects and argue that the creation of a space launch market involved turning access to orbital space into an asset for the UK space economy. We assess the impact of the failed Virgin Orbit launch in 2023 on how the Government has sought to shape the space launch market, and on ongoing expectations about its future. Drawing together research in innovation studies and assetization studies, our paper contributes a new critical understanding of the roles that governments are playing in the development of New Space economies and how they are characterized by dynamics of rent-seeking.