Aimei Helen Yang sees a new consumer layer for the space economy

At ISDC 2026, Aimei Helen Yang argued that the next phase of the New Space Economy will depend on experience, storytelling and emotional connection — not just rockets and orbital infrastructure. Her view points to new commercial models in hospitality, education, tourism and cuisine before most people ever travel to space.

Why it matters: - The space economy is moving beyond hardware and into consumer demand. - If companies can build emotional and cultural ties to space now, they may unlock revenue before everyday space travel becomes common. - That shift could broaden the market from engineering and logistics into hospitality, media, education and other experience-driven sectors.

What happened: - At the International Space Development Conference (ISDC 2026), Aimei Helen Yang spoke on the AI & Space panel about what she called the Space Experience Economy. - Yang argued that future growth will depend on how AI and human experience create demand and participation, not only on infrastructure. - The discussion came as the space sector continues building launch systems, orbital platforms and future lunar ecosystems.

The details: - Yang is a strategic communications leader and three-time Gourmand Award-winning author. - Her background includes more than three decades in branding, communications and consumer behavior across retail, hospitality and food. - She has held senior leadership roles within WPP and Walmart. - Yang said the New Space Economy will need new experiences, new narratives and new forms of engagement. - She pointed to hospitality, education, tourism, storytelling, wellness, memorial spaceflight and gastronomy as possible early interfaces between people on Earth and life beyond Earth. - Yang began exploring space-related experience projects in China in 2024, including Mars-themed entertainment concepts and memorial spaceflight services. - Her work on Brand for Space led her to focus on the idea that people must first connect emotionally with space before living beyond Earth becomes normal. - Over the past five years, she has developed Space-Art Cuisine, which uses gastronomy, aesthetics and storytelling to translate space-inspired ideas into sensory experiences. - Her books include Brand for Space, Next Bite, Art Bite and the upcoming First Bite. - Gourmand World Cookbook Awards founder Edouard Cointreau described Next Bite as “a trailblazing contribution to the future of cuisine,” highlighting its space-inspired aesthetics and cultural perspectives. - Yang’s ideas will be discussed later in June at the Beijing International Book Fair with hospitality professionals and culinary innovators. - Yang is a graduate of MIT Professional Education’s New Space Economy program. - She is also a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, serves on the Advisory Council and Space Settlement Board of the Lifeboat Foundation, and was a featured speaker at ISDC 2026.

Between the lines: - The core argument is that infrastructure does not automatically create markets. - Yang’s framework suggests the space economy may need a consumer layer built through culture, branding and lived experience before large-scale public adoption arrives. - That approach mirrors how other industries created demand before products became mainstream. - McKinsey estimates the global space economy could reach $1.8 trillion by 2035, and Morgan Stanley has projected the broader sector could eventually exceed $1 trillion. - Those forecasts help explain why non-technical market-building is drawing more attention.

What’s next: - Yang will share these ideas later in June at the Beijing International Book Fair. - Conversations there will focus on how concept-led systems can shape experiential dining and narrative-driven brand experiences. - More broadly, Yang expects AI, creative industries and space-sector innovators to collaborate on new consumer scenarios on Earth before those ideas move into space itself.

The bottom line: - Yang’s bet is that the next phase of the space economy will be won not only by launch capability, but by the ability to make space feel culturally and emotionally real to people on Earth.