ESA Space Economy – Understanding data on the space sector’s economic value [Jul/2024]
As published by the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2012, the space economy is the
full range of activities and the use of resources that create value and
benefits to human beings in the course of exploring, researching,
understanding, managing, and utilising space (OECD,
Handbook on Measuring the Space Economy, 1st Edition, 2012).
The definition, applied by the
European Space Agency, and developed through the work of the OECD Space Forum (see OECD Partnership page), includes the value of the space sector itself,
comprising of space upstream and downstream companies, as well as the value of impacts
that space activities have on the economy and society (see Impacts page).
To illustrate this sometimes-complex
distinction:
- The value of the space sector is generated by
economic entities that develop and sell space products and services
(e.g., satellites, rockets, receivers of satellite signal, satellite
communications).
- The impacts of the space sector lie in the value
from the use of those space products and services (e.g. a smartphone app
such as Google Maps or Uber that uses receivers of satellite navigation signal to
function or a maritime company that uses a satellite communication service to
offer 24-hour helplines to ensure crew’s safety).
This article focusses on the
space sector’s economic value. To learn more about the impacts of space
activities on the economy and society, please refer to the Impacts page (see Impacts page).
Often compared to the defence
sector, the space sector is a highly strategic industry that is primarily
supported by government budgets. Nearly 100 countries have sent a satellite in
orbit since 1957. In several OECD countries (Belgium, France, Space, United
Kingdom), the space sector is listed as a critical infrastructure, together
with transport, energy, food supply or ICT (OECD,
The Space Economy in Figures, 2023).
The work of the Space Economy
team at ESA is to provide its Member States with a comprehensive overview
of the space sector, highlighting key trends and figures at both the global and
European levels. Annually, the team selects and carefully reviews a set of key
figures to describe the status and main trends driving the global and European
space industries’ evolution. In particular, the ESA Space Economy team
continuously assesses existing data sources, notably by:
- Ensuring an in-depth understanding of the
methodology used by the data producing entities;
- Identifying any changes of scope or approach to
dissociate statistical growth from actual organic growth;
- Avoiding misleading comparisons across different
datasets;
- Conducting sanity checks with additional sources
to validate orders of magnitude.
A number of key indicators are
commonly used to monitor the space sector globally and the competitiveness of
the European space industry specifically. They include:
- Space activity in terms of:
o
the number of launches (every time a rocket is
launched);
o
the number of satellites launched (the
spacecraft launched into orbit by the rocket);
o
the mass launched (of all the spacecraft onboard
the rocket).
- Government space budgets (the investment
made by public institutions for the development of space activities, for both
civil and defence purposes);
- Private investment in space (the funds
raised by space companies through acquisition, debt financing, private equity,
public offering, and Venture Capital);
- Space industry’s revenues in the upstream
and downstream segments; and
- The space sector’s workforce.
The only fully publicly available
data is related to the number of launches, number of satellites launched, and
the mass launched (available in sources such as Gunter's Space Page; or the UCS Satellite
Database).
The other indicators, which are
estimated in value, have significant limitations as data is not publicly
available, and figures are therefore largely estimated. In addition, the
sources generally differ in terms of scope, and definitions, leading to several
methodological issues to consistently compare the different indicators.
Selected sources include for
example:
The OECD publishes figures on government space budgets in OECD countries (see article about latest available data). ASD-Eurospace, the non-profit trade association of the European Space Industry publishes figures on European public investment in space (see article about latest available data). Other sources exist but need to be purchased, such as the Novaspace report on Government Space Programs.
Data on the private investment
deals related to the space sector is available through various sources (Crunchbase,
PitchBook, Dealroom). The European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) publishes
since 2014 an annual report on the funds raised by European space start-ups
(see article
about latest available data).
Data on upstream revenues,
that are generated by companies primarily involved in the manufacturing and
launch of spacecraft, has been published, for Europe, for more than 25 years by
ASD-Eurospace (see article
about latest available data). The report also provides data on employment in
the European space upstream industry. At global level, the sources have to be
purchased. Contrary to the Eurospace data on the European upstream segment,
that is based on actual final sales of companies, the reports at
global level are usually based on estimated price per kilo. For example, for
government orders of satellites for defence purposes, the revenues generated by
the industry developing the satellites are estimated based on the mass of the
satellites, their performance, expected lifetime, and a number of additional
parameters. These models are typically called parametric models.
Data on downstream revenues,
that are generated by companies primarily involved in the selling of space data
and development of space value-added services, generally have to be purchased
as well. EUSPA (the European Union Agency for the Space Programme) publishes a
well-known market report on the estimated revenues, global and European, from
downstream satellite navigation, and Earth Observation (see article
about latest available data). Data on revenues from downstream satellite
communications can be available from public financial reporting of main
satellite operators (such as SES or Eutelsat).
To know more about the work of ESA Space Economy team on space sector’s economic value, please do not hesitate to contact us!
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