We’re getting a head start on a massive new wealth builder storyline that’ll really hit the headlines in 2026. I’m talking about the Space Economy – a market with $5 trillion in upside. One company to watch is Rocket Lab Corp. (RKLB), notes Bill Patalon, chief stock picker at Stock Picker’s Corner.
Think of it like the economies of Germany ($4.9 trillion) or Japan ($4.3 trillion) orbiting the earth – with a little left over in either case. Elon Musk’s plans for a $25 billion SpaceX IPO in 2026 – creating a public company worth $1 trillion – adds muscle to our Space Economy investing thesis.
We see plenty of business to go around. And Stock Picker’s Corner (SPC) favors another way to play it – an up-and-coming company with a feisty, obsessive CEO and tendrils reaching into the best slices of that Space Economy. The company is Rocket Lab.
RKLB is a private launch venture with two of its own booster designs, contracts to launch commercial satellites, a Pentagon pact for quick-turnaround spy satellite launches, and involvement in a military program focused on hypersonics – the next frontier in spaceflight. It’s also developing a proprietary “flatellite,” a thin-form spacecraft that’s payload stackable – and deployable in networked “constellations.”
Rocket Lab is poised to benefit from a quartet of triggers…
- The Defense-Spending Bonanza from the New Cold War: US defense spending will likely hit $1.14 trillion by 2034 — or about 2.6% of GDP.
- The Commercialization of Space: The worldwide commercial-space business is worth between $350 billion and $423 billion right now. It could hit $1 trillion to $5 trillion by 2040 — and will likely exceed $1 trillion by 2030.
- The Hypersonic Revolution: Mach 5 aircraft and rockets, super-maneuverable warheads, and anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) weapons are changing the defense landscape. They will also escalate the flintiness between the US, China and Russia. New defense systems – aided by AI – are being developed.
- The SpaceX IPO: Musk is like the old EF Hutton: When he talks, people listen. His bullish pronouncements about SpaceX – arguably the favorite of his portfolio companies – will serve as “the rising tide that lifts all ships.”
The takeaway: The $30 billion (market value) Rocket Lab is a bulldog. From this year’s $600 million, revenue could soar as much as 48% next year – and reach $2.3 billion by 2029. But RKLB will be volatile. Look to accumulate shares on pullbacks.
Recommended Action: Buy RKLB.
