What's the value of learning about space technology if your business isn't directly involved in interstellar exploration? In truth, there's a surprisingly strong potential return on investment when you stay aware of advancements in the space sector.

This connection between space tech and general business success comes at a time of rapid development in the space field. The World Economic Forum explains that space technology is expected to be worth $1.8 trillion by 2035.

Not all of that potential and upcoming value will go to companies physically building and launching satellites and other orbital tech. Rather, businesses of all kinds can reap the rewards of new, more advanced space infrastructure, as well as research breakthroughs enabled by space-based facilities and other developments.

Gaining the necessary knowledge to participate in contemporary space tech doesn't have to be difficult. Executive education courses connect business leaders with the cutting-edge insights that can ensure their companies aren't left behind. Enrolling in these programs is therefore a way to stake a place in advanced conversations.

What's the state of space technology?

It's a promising era for ambitious companies making use of space-based technology, especially advanced satellites for communication and data collection. Some of the most notable categories of equipment recently launched into Earth orbit include:

• Increasingly powerful communications satellites designed to power the high-speed connectivity networks that crisscross the globe.
• Microgravity environments that enable unique experiments on advanced materials and products, especially in industries such as pharmaceuticals.
• Security and national defense technology deployed in orbit to give countries more intelligence and visibility into earthly activities.

The usefulness of these technologies, in business terms, is not limited to space exploration or the expansion of orbital deployments. Rather, companies of all kinds can capitalize on the rapid advancements in capabilities and ambitious programs by governments and private space development organizations.

The World Economic Forum notes that while financial return on investment is one of the major reasons to be excited about space tech, there are also other promising signs. For example, the further development of advanced platforms in space has repercussions in the humanitarian field. The next generation of satellites is poised to improve weather forecasting and disaster relief coordination, for example.

Companies that look to orbital technology as a potential site for investment, development, and further focus may gain a leg-up on those that don't see the advantages of stellar tech. Even when thinking solely of the communications field, it's easy to see how new satellite launches point to improved networking capabilities and the expansion of high-speed data transmission. 

Read more: See how space tech applies to today's business challenges.

How are space technologies affecting earthly businesses?

As an executive, finding and exploiting areas where knowledge of space technology might pay off can help your company stake out a strong position in its field. This holds true across industries around the world. Today, there are promising use cases in:

• Agriculture: More accurate climate observation enabled by cutting-edge satellites can deliver a competitive advantage in crop development.
• Telecommunications: Perhaps the industry with the most direct link to space technology, telecom advancement is tied to the launch of new communications satellites. Channels controlled by satellite communication firms will prove crucial for everything from everyday telecommuting to disaster responses.
• Financial services: Real-time data transmission with built-in security is a key infrastructural component of the finance sector. These state-of-the-art communications upgrades depend on orbital technology.
• Transport and logistics: Navigation on Earth is driven by signals from space. Global positioning system (GPS) technology is a key piece of both individual passenger vehicles and massive container ships. The next steps for this field, autonomous vehicle operations, are closely tied to reliable satellite communications.
• Pharmaceuticals: Pharma development taking advantage of low-gravity orbital environments is one of the major space technology applications that goes beyond satellite communication. Microgravity labs already exist on the International Space Station (ISS), pointing to a bright future for space science.
• National defense: Security services are now committed to achieving a technological advantage in space, enabling them to stay ahead of advanced threats.

These and other use cases have drawn the attention of leading educators, including MIT Sloan Visiting Senior Lecturer Paul McDonagh-Smith. These experts teach business leaders to bring space technology into their everyday thinking.

Read more: See the value of the global space economy across industries.

What's the value of understanding the intersection of space and tech?

Concepts tied to space technology can have a major positive impact on visionary companies that take the time to integrate them. When learning about these ideas at a leading institution like MIT Sloan, participants explore several related areas, each pointing to potential value.

Some of the most relevant topic areas associated with space technology applications include:

• Economics of space: This financial analysis encompasses everything from cost-benefit analysis of new innovations to an overall analysis of space's economic impact.
• Technology and innovation: The tech concepts and products associated with space don't stay there — next-generation tech ideas can come from space exploration.
• Growth frameworks: The organizational growth frameworks used in the space sector have a similarly wide applicability to earthbound business interests.
• Workforce management principles: General growth planning isn't the only business idea that translates from the space sector — next-generation workforce management is also worth studying.
• Near-future market opportunities: Observing the progress in the space technology sector is a good way to predict emerging market directions, with the opportunities and openings that come along.
• Leadership, ethics, and space sustainability: New concepts and debates in sustainability and corporate responsibility are closely tied to the expansion into space markets.

Some companies have direct ties to the global space economy through their use of related tech, such as GPS satellites. Others can take lessons from the way these companies manage their operations and explore governance in a largely untapped sector. Whichever category your business falls into, executive education around space technology can be an instructive path.

Read more: Put a dollar value on space industry knowledge.

Learning about space tech to build your knowledge

Since the latest technology in outer space is a cutting-edge area by definition, it's important to study with leading industry voices who are knowledgeable about both the technical details and their business consequences. This is where MIT Sloan Executive Education can deliver real value, preparing you to take on business challenges with relevant insights.

Business Applications of Space Exploration is a course specifically designed to draw lines between the latest-breaking developments in orbital technology and everyday business success. Learning takes a few different forms, both tying the latest corporate advancements to space tech and passing on operational lessons from companies working on interstellar concepts.

Studying space technology while it's under development is a way to achieve a head start as you aim to seize some of the over-$1 trillion expansion predicted by the World Economic Forum. Industries of all kinds will link their fortunes with the advanced satellites currently being launched, directly and indirectly profiting from restless expansion and development.

Studying these ideas with MIT Sloan Executive Education means connecting with experienced and knowledgeable faculty and collaborating with ambitious and intelligent fellow participants. It's the ideal environment to prepare your company for what's next.

Get a glimpse of the future through executive education

Space isn't a faraway place — it's already the center of plenty of business activity, with actionable lessons to match. Studying current and planned orbital technology and space organization business models, therefore, has applicability to today's enterprise world, across industries and regions.

Whether you're seeking to directly engage with this new technology or you're simply looking for a new lane of high-level strategic thinking, MIT Sloan Executive Education can deliver useful lessons. The insights and takeaways from related courses will only become more applicable as the space industry and terrestrial businesses become more enmeshed and connected.

Enroll in Business Applications of Space Exploration and learn more about the connections between today's space activity and tomorrow's business success.