A new era

Within just 20 years, SpaceX has turned reusable rockets from a ridiculed idea into routine operations. Falcon 9 became reusable in 2015, and in 2024 Starship achieved an automated return of its booster to the launch site. At 120 meters tall and designed for up to 150 tons of payload, Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built.
This shift is accelerating the broader space economy. New commercial space stations—such as Axiom, Starlab (Voyager Space/Airbus), and Orbital Reef (Blue Origin)—are expanding orbital capacity, while mass-produced, reusable transport systems are expected to drive launch costs toward ~100 USD/kg or lower. That makes in-orbit manufacturing viable for many sectors, including semiconductors, optical fibers, and biomedical products like drugs, stem-cell tissue, and tumor organoids. Many expect a major industrial expansion in low Earth orbit by the end of this decade.
To capture these opportunities, efficient transport, production capacity, and strong knowledge transfer from research to application are essential. The Canton of Zurich designated “Space” as one of its three innovation flagships in April 2024. Liechtenstein also positioned itself early by adopting a Space Act in October 2023 and establishing a Space Affairs unit in 2024 to develop New Space opportunities for the country.