With the advent of NewSpace and the pressing global challenges the space industry is seeking to solve, we are seeing a widening gap between space-faring nations and those that aspire to build a space ecosystem. This highlights the need for a maturity index or “rubric” to help aspiring space nations assess and identify areas of strengths, needs and opportunities to participate in the global space industry. It can also be beneficial for developed nations to understand where to focus resources and investments of space assets both upstream and downstream. As part of the Team Project “Creating a Space Innovation Ecosystem” which was carried out during the Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program (SHSSP23) in Adelaide, Australia, offered by the International Space University (ISU), in cooperation with the University of South Australia (UniSA), the team focused on identifying some of the key pillars of a space innovation ecosystem and developed a “maturity index/rubric” as a tool for others to create a short- and long-term plan.