Do We Need Traffic Signals in Space Yet?

It was bound to happen—Euroconsult, the international research and analyst firm specializing in the satellite sector, announced that the satellite-based Earth observation sector is entering a new expansion phase. Nearly 200 new satellites are expected to be launched through 2017. This is almost double the number launched over the previous 10 years. The new growth will be primarily by the private sector and emerging space programs. Formerly, the government programs were the dominant clients in the industry. Now the company sees many new projects coming from the private sector and emerging government space programs.

According to the report, the world manufacturing market for EO satellites will grow from 14.8B/USD to 16.9B/USD, a 14 percent increase. Established government programs (such as NASA, ESA, CNES, ISRO and others) that have historically dominated the Earth observation sector will remain the leading actors in terms of number of satellites to be launched, with 54 satellites expected in the 2007-2016 time period. This number is relatively flat compared to the last decade when 53 satellites were launched. However, their share of total satellites to be launched will drop from 77 percent dating from 1997-2006 to 36 percent in the next ten years from 2007-2016. While the world manufacturing market for EO satellites may be flat, the emerging government space programs will give a major boost to the Earth observation sector in the coming years. According to Euroconsult, 52 EO satellites will be launched by emerging government space programs in the coming ten years, a five fold increase compared to the last decade. This represents a 34 percent share of EO satellites to be launched over the period, competing with traditional government space programs. A number of countries have recently established national space agencies or dedicated entities to manage their program, or are planning to do so. These emerging actors are developing small EO platforms to quickly acquire space technology, primarily to meet specific local and regional needs such as disaster management, natural resource monitoring and infrastructure planning.

After the aforementioned comparison between the world manufacturing market and the government space programs, then comes the new kid on the block, the private sector. According to reports from 2007 to 2016, 29 Earth observation satellites will be ordered by private satellite operators, representing 19 percent of EO satellites launched during the period. This compares to a 7 percent share during the previous decade (5 satellites) clearly illustrating the rise in prominence of these non-governmental actors. The private sector sales figures anticipate from a base of 735M/USD in 2007 to more than 15 percent growth to about 3B/USD billion in 2017. Sales have and will increase because of better data products such as the hi-res world of defense and security applications. Other contributing factors include consumer-oriented programs such as GoogleEarth and Microsoft’s Virtual Earth, which make the general public aware of Earth observation capabilities—Paris, France