France
CNES Space Spending by Type, 2005-2021
Including defense spending and contributions to third parties such as ESA, France’s total space spending in 2021 was the fourth-largest in the world behind the U.S., China, and Japan.
Expenditures by program are not available yet for 2022 but launch vehicle development tends to be the largest portion of CNES’ budget. From 2017 to 2021, the Ariane program composed an average of 32% of the agency’s non-ESA expenditures.
France Space Budget, 2005-2021
The majority of the French space budget goes to the French space agency, the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES). About 36% of CNES spending, went toward ESA projects. An additional 31%, of CNES spending went to the national space program. The remaining funds, were allocated for maintaining national resources and the Future Investment Program (PIA).
Per Nation Mass Share of an Estimated 973,000 KG, 2022
Operators deployed ~421 spacecraft with a mass of 200 kg or less, 18% of all deployed spacecraft in 2022. SpaceX’s Starlink satellites comprised over half the spacecraft mass deployed in 2022. The company’s Starlink deployments added up to 518,523 kg, nearly double the 257,140 kg it deployed in 2021. The largest spacecraft deployed during 2022 was Lockheed Martin’s Orion space capsule (25,848 kg), deployed during NASA’s first Artemis/Space Launch System launch.
Index Weight by Listing Country as of Dec. 16, 2022
As of December, U.S.-listed companies comprised 82.61% of the weight of the overall index, with France in second place at 10.69%, Japan at 4.09%, the Netherlands at 2.55%, and Italy at 0.06%. Canada was no longer represented due to the removal of MDA, and Italy’s share dropped by a factor of 10 due to the removal of Avio.
Nation in Review: France
France has always been a pioneer in space: It was the third nation to establish a space program, and it led Europe’s launch vehicle development. Military and civil space strategies from the past few years have planned for the completion of new military satellite constellations, the first launch of the new Ariane 6 launch vehicle, and an increase in domestic space industry investment.
The S-Network Space Index℠ 2022 Performance
The S-Network Space Index℠ tracks a global portfolio of publicly traded companies that are active in space-related businesses such as satellite-based telecommunications; transmission of television and radio content via satellite . . .
Pressure Ramps Up for New Vehicle Launches Pushed from 2022 to 2023
The list of launch vehicles set for maiden flights in 2023 may sound familiar. It’s mostly the same group of launch vehicles initially slated to fly in 2022.
European Space Industry Employment, 2011-2021
European space employment was 53,051 in 2021, an increase of 5.4% from the total of 50,317 from 2020. This estimate is based on analysis by Eurospace, the trade association of the European Space Industry. The analysis focuses on the space manufacturing industry; space services companies such as Ariane- space, SES, Eutelsat, and Inmarsat which also employ thousands of individuals, are not included.
Europe Continues to Lead in Global Workforce Job Growth
The space industry relies on skilled individuals from a wide variety of fields to enable the cutting-edge developments taking place in this sector. While many countries do not regularly produce metrics on the size of their workforce, these data are available for several major space actors, including the United States, Europe, Japan, and India.
Index Weight by Listing Country as of June 17, 2022
As of June, U.S.-listed companies comprised 80.2% of the weight of the overall index, with France in second place at 11.4%, Japan at 3.2%, Canada at 2.3%, the Netherlands at 2.1%, and Italy at 0.7%. Germany was no longer represented due to the removal of Mynaric.