Colorado Springs, USA, 15 November 2006 – The Space Foundation, a premier US-based non-profit organization, has publicly released ‘The Space Report: The Guide to Global Space Activity’, a new source for data and analysis about the global space industry, space products, and space services.
The book identifies nine distinct sectors for global space activities and describes the full range of space activities: space infrastructure, space products and services, space revenues and government budgets, how space products and services are used, their impact, and the outlook for the future.
Among its key findings, The Space Report concludes that space activities accounted for about $180 billion in government budgets and industry revenues worldwide in 2005:
– $110 billion comes from global commercial space revenue, from infrastructure, infrastructure support services, satellite services and transportation-based services
– $70 billion is from international government expenditures from civilian and military agencies
– $57 billion or about one-third is attributable to U.S. government expenditures
– $80 billion or nearly half is attributable to satellite-based products and services
Commercial transportation services (space tourism) accounts only for less than one percent. More than 50 industry leaders interviewed for The Space Report identified trends in technology, policy and business that make up the outlook for the global space industry.
The book showcases selected references, forecasts, and projections. Some of these are:
– 236 commercial satellite launches through 2010.
– 176 commercial geosynchronous satellites, worth $28.3 billion, will be built and launched between 2006 and 2015.
– A total suborbital launch market of 852 flights through 2020.
– $46 billion expendable launch vehicle market through 2015.
– 118 dedicated military satellites are earmarked for production during the next ten years, with an associated revenue of $41 billion.
The book also includes a section on ‘How Space Products and Services Are Used’ under which it highlights the following main areas of space application: Accommodations, Energy and Earth Resources, Governance and the Public Good, Homeland Security, Defense, and Intelligence, Lifestyle, Media, Retail, Finance, Management, Science and Academia, Transportation, Warehousing, and Manufacturing.
The book was released in a series of briefings held in Washington, D.C. In addition to reporting on the “state of the industry” around 2005, The Space Report provides insight into the future of space activities through interviews with key leaders, summaries of selected forecasts and projections, and a new stock index that will be publicly available and routinely updated on the Space Foundation’s Web site (www.SpaceFoundation.org).
“We saw a need for one source for credible and comprehensive information about the space industry worldwide,” said Space Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Elliot G. Pulham. “The Space Foundation’s Research and Analysis enterprise produced The Space Report to bring together that data and provide a useful tool for analysis and forecasting.” The Tauri Group, known for its objective, credible and in-depth research, served as technical lead, providing research, data and analysis for this definitive report.
Here are a few excerpts from the report:
– Satellites and Ground Stations
…The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) identifies 102 civil and commercial land imaging satellites with resolutions finer than 39 meters in orbit as of February 2006. Satellite navigation constellations (such as the U.S. NavStar Global Positioning System, or GPS) are operated by the United States, Russia, and China, with others being developed by Europe and Japan. Some 102 scientific satellites currently orbit Earth—19 of them launched in 2005. Probes journey beyond Earth orbit, typically on a science mission. There are 13 active probes in space. Four were launched in 2005 and early 2006.
– Remote sensing
Remote sensing firms have yet to unlock the secrets of mass marketing to a commercial audience and continue to rely heavily on government customers to augment commercial revenues. DigitalGlobe’s non-government revenues grew 40 percent in 2004, and Space Imaging (bought by ORBIMAGE and now GeoEye) saw commercial business growing by 15 to 20 percent per year in 2004—yet it still only represented 10 percent of the company’s total revenue of $200 million.
– Positioning
GPS chipsets are becoming smaller, more affordable, and increasingly versatile. More and more, GPS technology is being integrated into other products (such as cell phones) and new products use GPS receivers for in-vehicle navigation, inventory tracking, emergency vehicle dispatch, precision agriculture and mining, and more. New GPS applications continue to emerge with no apparent limit.
– Geoinformatics
Geoinformatics activities represent the convergence of space-based remote sensing and space-based PNT applications. For example:
Precision agriculture combines multi-spectral remote sensing data, which reveals crop conditions with GPS-enabled farm equipment to precisely irrigate, fertilize, and harvest crops. Precision mining uses terrestrially augmented GPS signals to automate mining operations. Both techniques improve results while reducing labor costs and removing humans from some hazardous situations.
Google Earth uses satellite images, maps, and geographic information to allow Internet users to search the globe. With Google Earth Plus and other similar applications, users can import data from GPS devices.
Satellite enterprise services integrate GPS receivers with telecommunications and Geographic Information System (GIS) databases to provide real-time management and tracking of mobile objects including people, pets, and property.
Copies of The Space Report can be ordered online from www.theSpaceReport.org. The printed book or searchable CD-ROM is available for $35; the e-book is available for $25. The Executive Summary of The Space Report is available free of charge online as a PDF.
– About Space Foundation
In the 23 years since its founding, the Space Foundation has become one of the world’s premier nonprofit organizations supporting space activities, space professionals and education. Its education programs – accredited through 17 universities and colleges — have touched teachers in all 50 U.S. states and Germany. It conducts two of the top three conferences for space professionals anywhere in the world today – the National Space Symposium and Strategic Space and Defense. For more info visit: https://www.spacefoundation.org
