The space economy is red hot right now, from Artemis II to SpaceX's IPO. Here's how you can get a piece of the action

This indicates how much lunar exploration is worth to Trump's administration, and not just for bragging rights.

The World Economic Forum predicts (1) that by 2035, the global space economy will be worth over $1.8 trillion. In fact, SpaceX alone just filed for an IPO with a target valuation of $2 trillion.

But lunar investment opportunities span a wide range of ventures — from biomedical research to resource extraction to manufacturing microchips.

That excites Anna Brady-Estevez (2), founder of American DeepTech — an investment firm with an interest in funding lunar ventures (3) and the infrastructure needed to support them.

She was on hand in Florida to watch the Artemis II launch with her daughters Marie, 8, and Theia, 11 — who wants to be an astronaut and travel to Mars. Brady-Estevez said that's one of her motivations to invest in space.

"When a child tells their mom they're going to Mars, it's time to get cracking," Brady-Estevez told Moneywise with a laugh.

She is serious about the space economy, and spoke to Moneywise about the opportunities ahead.

A stake on the moon

These are some of the key areas of the lunar economy Brady-Estevez sees growing within a 10-year horizon. The Trump administration's focus on moon exploration opens up the possibility of a growing number of public-private partnerships.

Mining on the moon

China supplies the majority of rare earth elements (REEs) globally — essential for electronics, clean energy, car production and more. It leveraged (4) this position when President Donald Trump threatened 100% tariffs on China, warning it would cut off supply entirely. Trump backed down.

But samples of lunar rock suggest (5) that the moon could be another source of rare earth elements.

Helium-3 — used for medical imaging (MRIs) and for cooling quantum computers — is also present on the moon. It's worth $20 million per kilogram (6), which could make mining it and transporting it back to Earth economically worthwhile. In fact, the Finnish company Bluefors (7) has teamed up with the American company Interlune to do so. They are both private ventures.

"My best guess is (lunar resource extraction) will be far more valuable than terrestrial resource production," Brady-Estevez said.

"When you think about the tens of trillions in Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and then think about all the different resources off-planet in the moon, asteroids and other bodies, it's several multiples higher."

Human settlement and infrastructure

Donald Trump has made permanent human settlement of the moon part of his national space policy.

"America is committed to returning to the Moon, building the infrastructure to stay, and making the investments required for the next giant leap to Mars and beyond," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said.

One necessity is a long-term energy source. The U.S. Department of Energy and NASA are funding (8) work to deploy a nuclear reactor to the moon by 2030.

A human settlement would not be viable without food. There are companies (9) looking at what types of crops can be grown effectively in lunar dirt, called regolith.

Brady-Estevez notes that people on the moon would need a lunar internet and communications network. Companies like SpaceX's Starlink (10) have the kind of technology that could potentially be used to supply this need.

Developing medicines and AI chips in microgravity

Brady-Estevez notes that microgravity — present on the moon and the ISS — is a boon for medical research, especially cancer research. Aging of an experimental tumor that takes up to 10 years on Earth may take just nine days in microgravity.

"It leads to far faster scientific research and R&D," she says, noting that experiments on the ISS have already led to reformulations (11) of drugs. "The U.S. spends several trillions a year in health care so it's expected that microgravity will continue to accelerate drug development."