United States
2007 – U.S. Launch, Human
NASA announced SpaceX and Rocketplane Kistler as the winners of the COTS competition in August 2006. The goal of the competition is to develop commercial delivery services for the International Space Station (ISS), distributing research and development funds to be combined with private capital.
2006 – U.S. Space Workforce
The U.S. space industry draws on the expertise of more than a quarter of a million Americans across the country who directly contribute to the economic health of the national economy, many state economies, and local communities.
2006 – Space Industry Demographics – Snapshot
Although new hiring statistics are not uniformly available for other major civil space programs or international companies, steady growth in the global space industry over the past five years suggests that demand for skilled S&E workers with space-relevant skills exists around the world.
2005 – Space-Themed Tourism
The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is recognized as the world’s most visited museum. For 2005, a total of ## people visited the museum building on the Mall, which on average attracts more than ## million people annually, and ## visited the affiliated Udvar-Hazy Center.
2005 – Whither The Remote Sensing Market Place — Dr. Ray Williamson
From Sidebar — “Satellite imagery sales were helped along by increasing tensions in Afghanistan and then Iraq. In time, foreign purchases and major contracts for data (ClearView and NextView) from the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) brought growth and a measure of stability to the data market. The acquisition of Space Imaging by ORBIMAGE [now known as GeoEye] has also further stabilized the industry.”
2005 – Broadband-to-Home
Sidebar — Consumer broadband services offered by WildBlue Communications, Inc. and Telesat Canada in North America attracted thousands of customers by the end of 2005, and hundreds of thousands are expected to sign up by the end of 2006. “This rate of growth would not be po… Thank you for visiting The Space Report! The Authoritative Guide to Global…
2005 – Bob Evans VSAT Network
From a sidebar — The geographical reach of VSAT technology was a prime reason why Bob Evans Farms deployed a 481-site network. The national restaurant chain teamed with Spacenet to link its retail stores and corporate headquarters to an always-on IP VSAT service. And the network was up and running in five weeks. The company looked into frame relay, DSL and ISDN service options, but chose a VSAT network because it was the only technology that could reach all locations and was the most cost-effective.
2005 – Low-Cost Launch Vehicles
“Despite the strong barriers to entry that prevail in the industry, some daring entrepreneurs are nevertheless attempting to challenge incumbents. The entry of low-cost launchers such as the Space Exploration Technology (SpaceX) Falcon-1 and Falcon-5, offered at USD 6 million and USD 12 million respectively, may…”
2005 – Spinoffs
Technology developed in association with space activities is used in many industries and non-space applications. Technology is transferred through intentional efforts by governments to identify new applications, as well as through organic adaptation of technologies, via connections among researchers, labs, and companies.
2005 – Mobile Satellite Service Satellite Design
Satellites are used to send television news feeds from news vans directly to broadcast distributors. News vans transmit in the C- and Ku-bands to distributors via GEO satellites.Mobile Television: Satellites are used to transmit television programming to cell phone-sized mobile handsets. Curren… Thank you for visiting The Space Report! The Authoritative Guide to Global Space…