Global Space Spending Is Projected to Grow 41% Over the Next Five Years

tech.hindustantimes.com:

The global space economy grew 8% to $546 billion in 2022 and is projected to climb another 41% over the next five years, according to a leading space nonprofit.

The sector is expected to show resiliency in the coming years, despite uncertainty about the global economy and a recent slowdown in space investment.

Companies are seeing continued revenue growth from commercial space assets and governments around the world boosting expenditures, according to a report from the Space Foundation, a Colorado Springs, Colorado-based space flight advocacy group. The analysis considered spending from 51 governments, as well as commercial revenue from companies in 11 space industry sub-sectors.

“Commercial space is the vital growing sector of the overall space economy,” Lesley Conn, director of research and digital programming at the Space Foundation, said in an interview. “Within five years, certainly you're going to see a real acceleration and an expansion of space and space assets.”

Companies in the space industry grew revenue to $427.6 billion in 2022, up from a revised $396.2 billion the year before. One-third of that flowed from infrastructure and support for activities in space, such as ground stations used for satellite communication. The remaining came from space-based products — namely satellites. The single biggest business was the sale of position, navigation and timing, or PNT, satellite data, which made up 39% of all commercial revenue.

That resilience reflects in part the long development lead times of space programs and the prevalence of public-private partnerships, the report said. Those attributes help sustain funding, even when the economy is uneven.

The growth in 2022 came despite venture capital volatility as markets