The economy is a term commonly describing the wealth and resources of a region, which means that everyday activities are closely related to the economy. Examples are buying at grocery stores, eating in fast food restaurants and fueling your car at the gas station; economy covers all areas, including space science and space exploration. Commonly, we believe that things associated with money and visible benefits are related to the economy. However, things that do not show visible income or benefits are not commonly considered in the economic category. For example, space projects and exploration are usually not considered as a part of the economy or lack attention. One of the reasons is the cost of space programs. Space programs and exploration need a large amount of funding to operate. For example, the United States spends around 10.85 billion every year on NASA (Williams), and this leads to the other problem, people do not see the benefits of spending this much money on space programs, leading to less knowledge on space programs and explorations, and causing less attention on the economic side of space programs and exploration (Magnus). In her article “The space industry: A closer look at the new ecosystem.” Sandra Magnus says  “as an environment similar to a desert, the ocean, a large city, where people want to come and do ‘something.’ It's hard to make such a massive mental shift.” Magnus suggests that ordinary people would consider space as a barren place. However, she then suggests that “the shift that is already taking place not only in the communities around us but also in the space workforce". But why do we need to focus on the space economy? It is essential to people's everyday lives; even if the benefits are not as visual as other counterparts, the awareness of space economy can help sustain the exploration of outer space. In the article, “The Space Economy: An Industry Takes Off.” Higginbotham shares “The real space revolution has yet to begin in earnest.” The economic benefits of space programs are immeasurable, and we should not underestimate it; with the understanding of this, these programs can bring extreme wealth to the whole world. 
Space economy is affecting our future society, after maturing certain advanced space technologies, we can apply them to everyday use, and the space technology might even make our vehicles safer and faster. With the understanding that space programs and exploration can lead to more future economic benefits, there will be more and more businessmen who will start to put investments in the space markets. By investing in the space market, there will be more economic gain, and this is going to become a great motivation for the future space economy to expand. As Higginbotham states, “It is easy to see the motivation when we examine the growth in revenues even as the commercial side was just getting rolling.” The space market will gain interest; soon enough, it will gain recognition, which can make it easier for future developments in the space economy. Statistics show that the money in the market is increasing exponentially. In 2005, the global space market possessed a revenue of 175 billion dollars, and in 2017 the revenue in the market had already increased to around 385 billion dollars, which means a seven percent rate of growth every year; the only exception is in 2009, in which the growth was damaged because of the great recession (Higginbotham). The increase in investment means that the space economy is getting more of the recognition it deserves, which may result in more exploration put into progress, thus providing us with a better future.
The more recognition space programs have, the more investments individuals will make in space programs will lead to the emergence of space industries. To help space industries further develop, society needs space regulation. A relatively wide range of issues need to be addressed, from solving space debris problems to regulating low Earth orbit spectrum interference (Higginbotham). The emergence of space industries can also help to solve problems in space, and provide a better space environment, like Higginbotham mentions, “space debris management.” Also space industries will create more jobs. The development of the space economy can become another step towards the future (Higginbotham). Magnus states “With such a formative norm, the leap to expanding the type and number of people who live and work in space, expanding the use of space, expanding the breadth of people who want to take advantage of space is not a ‘giant leap for mankind’ but just another small step for man.” The “small step” of mankind will eventually bring enormous wealth to the world and provide more sustainability to us and to our families.
When examining the benefits of the space economy, we have to talk about what factors might hurt our future space economy; this brings us to the issue of space debris. There is too much space debris wandering in outer space. This debris can do severe damage to spacecraft, and as Chen states, “Any impact of a 10-cm catalog object on a spacecraft or orbital stage will most likely entail a catastrophic disintegration of the target” (540). Space debris can deal immeasurable damage, and the solvation of the problem can bring considerable benefits to the economy because it can eliminate the possibility for space debris to damage our future Space industries. 
Another problem of space debris is the cost of shielding. Shielding is used to prevent space debris damage. Shielding itself can cost extra money, and more weight means more cost can be spent on launching. The shielding and launching fee is why space crafts always have minimal shielding (Chen 540). Space debris will never contribute to the development of space programs and industries; it can only slow down the process. The reduction of space debris is the only solution to the ineffective and cost heavy shielding, which can further improve the space environment. Space debris does not only do damage to the space program and industries by collision, it can also cause pollution to outer space. In the article “Future Security in Space: Commercial, Military, and Arms Control Trade-Offs” Moltz claims, “fragmentation of this debris by further collisions could eventually produce enough dust to cause a lingering twilight as it is illuminated by sunlight, a new and particularly unpleasant sort of light pollution.” The space debris problem needs to be addressed, or the space economy will suffer from consequences space debris might bring; early regulations can prevent space debris from forming and give space programs and exploration more room to develop.
Another aspect of the space economy is the ongoing space mining, which can lead to economic gain and benefits for future society. The most important part is the treaty; in the article “Floating Treasure: Space Law Needs to Catch Up with Asteroid Mining A number of companies are getting closer to extracting resources from space rock,” Dunietz says “The foundational 1967 pact establishes space as ‘the province of all mankind’ and forbids the nearly 100 states that have ratified or acceded to it from colonizing celestial bodies or using them for military operations.” This act can stop space colonization, so the problem of countries fighting for space resources; further, this treaty can also benefit the economy of humankind since every country can utilize space materials.
Space exploration shows that outer space resources will be able to fulfill the needs for today's society. One of the most crucial elements is water, the lack of water in some countries is causing problems, but now they can be addressed by outer space mining. Dunietz claims, “Water makes up as much as 10 percent of the mass of some asteroids, locked up in minerals similar to the glittery mica found in many Earth rocks—but it can be baked in a solar oven, along with other volatiles such as nitrogen or sulfur compounds. Modified terrestrial mining techniques could make it possible to harvest iron from asteroids as well.” More materials are waiting for us to discover and utilize in space. Resources from space mining are how space programs and exploration can bring benefits to earth.
Space programs and space exploration help us understand the unknown in outer space, bringing benefits to the whole world. Space industries bring more jobs, the awareness of space pollution helps further space development, and outer space mining brings the already scarce resources back to our earth. In the future, there can be more economic gain, and the human race can benefit from space programs and exploration.