Capital Requirements and Funding Gap Analysis
How much capital does a station need, and how much of it is still missing?
Chapter summary
A station costs an estimated $2–4 billion. NASA’s development funding covers 15–30% of that for the providers it selects; the rest is private.
Key takeaways
- 1
Over $1 billion was raised in 2026 alone: Axiom more than $525 million, Vast $500 million.
- 2
Each NASA-selected provider still needs $1.5–3.5 billion of private capital before services income starts.
- 3
Across four programmes the private capital needed is $8–14 billion, more than twice what has been raised.
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