Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Traditionally Earth-bound companies, industries and investors are now looking to space as a place to do business, compete and invest. Why it matters: The space economy’s continued growth hinges on space companies proving their worth to non-space entities, and moving beyond established industry partnerships and government contract money. The space economy is "going to grow by regular companies thinking about regular ways that they can solve regular problems through and with space," McKinsey partner Jesse Klempner tells Axios. That may now be happening. "I think that folks are starting to wake up to the fact that we are really at the emergence of a massive space economy and a lot of growth," McKinsey senior partner Ryan Brukardt tells Axios. What’s happening: 2021 was a high-water mark for investing in the space industry , with $14.5 billion raised through private investment, according to data from Space Capital. Last year saw a major downturn in investment, but the space economy still grew and reached $424 billion in 2022, according to a report from Euroconsult. Investors and companies outside of the space industry are looking to space to add value to their own companies. They’re building and using analytics […]