Adults who use a standing desk

FAA-licensed commercial space launches and standing desk adoption among American adults have grown together since 2010 with a 0.97 correlation, suggesting that the aerospace industry's vertical ambitions have inspired the American workforce's own modest vertical ambitions. Commercial launches grew from a handful annually to over 40 by 2022. Standing desk usage grew from the habits of a few ergonomically anxious early adopters to a mainstream office fixture. Both represent humanity's attempt to spend more time not sitting down.

FAA-licensed commercial space launches grew dramatically through the 2010s and into the 2020s, driven primarily by SpaceX's reusable rocket technology lowering per-launch costs and enabling higher cadence, with other providers including Rocket Lab and Blue Origin adding to the count. Standing desk adoption grew from a workplace wellness curiosity around 2010 to a major office furniture category by the late 2010s, propelled by research on sedentary behavior risks and remote-work ergonomic spending during COVID-19. Both are upward-trending adoption curves in different domains across the same thirteen-year span.

Progress in aerospace and progress in office ergonomics share the same graph shape because growth curves look similar regardless of the domain. The chart knows nothing of rockets or lumbar support; it only knows which direction things moved.