Resource Economics in Outer Space

RFF and the Duke Space Initiative hosted a 1.5-day interactive workshop focused on resource economics and outer space, with three key objectives:

• Building on the groundwork of existing research across multiple disciplines, establish a next decadal research agenda at the intersection of space and resource economics, with a focus on both short-term and “over the horizon” research questions that are decision-relevant in the next ten years;
• Strengthen relationships among the academic, business, and decision-making communities interested in these issues; and
• Expand the community of resource economists bringing their expertise to bear on space-related questions.

The event was dedicated to the memory of former RFF Senior Fellow Molly Macauley, who championed the role of economics in space policy throughout her career.

Thursday, July 23

9:00 – 9:45 am: Welcome, Introductions, and Workshop Goals

9:45 – 10:55 am: Research Economics in Outer Space

The opening session provided an overview of how economic theories and methods can be applied to space policy research, alongside a broad orientation to ongoing and emerging research in the field of space resource economics. The discussion covered the key issue of space debris—arguably the field’s most pressing applied problem—and the range of proposed governance mechanisms including orbital-use fees, tradeable permits, launch taxes with rebate schemes, extended producer responsibility, and active debris removal subsidies. Speakers also highlighted the robust body of work on the value of satellite information, along with more nascent areas of study including the lunar resource economy, valuing dark/quiet skies, incentivizing ongoing space technology innovation, and more.

10:55 – 11:25 am: Coffee Break

11:25 am – 12:45 pm: Space Law/Governance

The second session turned to the legal and institutional architecture that shapes and governs economic activity in space. Speakers provided an overview of the existing governance landscape: the foundational international treaties (the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the Liability Convention, the Moon Agreement) alongside more recent developments such as the Artemis Accords. A central theme of the session was how the dramatic rise of private actors has impacted a legal architecture designed originally for state-to-state relations, leading to questions about licensing, liability, and the limits of national authorization and supervision. This led into one of the field’s most contested issues: the prospects for establishing meaningful property rights in space, and how current ambiguities in international law—particularly around the non-appropriation principle—create uncertainty that ripples through investment decisions and economic planning.

12:45 – 1:30 pm: Lunch

1:30 – 2:40 pm: Space Technology, Research and Development

The third session grounded the workshop’s economic focus in technological reality: what technological innovations are likely to be viable and funded in the next ten years, what the engineering actually permits, and where the hype begins and ends. Primary focus was on advancements in technology related to 1) space debris management and 2) energy production and consumption in outer space and on the Moon, but speakers also touched on more speculative developments such as data centers in space, lunar in-situ resource utilization, and more.

2:40 – 3:10 pm: Coffee Break

3:10 – 4:15 pm: Risk, Investment, and Public-Private Equities

The closing session of the first day turned to the business realities shaping today’s commercial space sector. How is private sector involvement in space-related activity continuing to evolve, what incentives are in place to encourage more innovation and provision of services by companies, and where are there tensions in expected timescales related to R&D, government program development, and private capital expected returns?

4:15 – 4:45 pm: Toward a Set of Research Questions and Themes for Day 2

Friday, July 24

9:00 – 9:30 am: Quick Refresh on Day 1, Re-establishing Goals for Day 2

9:30 – 10:30 am: Identifying Key Research Questions at the Intersection of Outer Space and Resource Economics

In this session, participants worked in small groups to distill learning and thinking from the first day of the workshop, with a focus on extracting key research questions at the intersection of outer space and resource economics.

10:30 – 11:00 am: Coffee Break

11:00 am – 12:15 pm: Prioritizing Research Questions and Moving Toward a Research Agenda

To close out the workshop, participants reviewed the information generated earlier in the day and began to assign priority to key research questions. This prioritization—along with any characterization of themes across questions—is providing direct input into a draft research agenda under development by RFF.

12:15 – 12:30 pm: Wrap Up and Workshop Close