The space industry is a multibillion-dollar sector that is growing each year and becoming increasingly commercialised – the phenomenon of new space. But how exactly does it work? Who is funding the bulk of space activities? And does one need insurance as a space operator? Professor Akhil Rao, Assistant Professor at Middlebury College in the US, talks to us about the space economy and how we should understand it. We discuss how the rules of the road are shaping the industry, and how new ideas – such as that of an ‘orbital use fee’ – might in turn help regulate the domain. Finally, we discuss where the future of the space industry may lie; is it time to talk about asteroid mining and space resource extraction?