2009
2009 – Space Insurance – Snapshot
The satellite insurance industry saw profits decline in 2009 compared to 2008. XL Insurance, a space industry specialist, estimates that 2009 premiums totaled $## million, while 2009 insurance claims totaled $## million. Aon/ISB, an insurance brokerage, reported that 2009 premiums totaled approximately $## million and claims amounted to $## million. These estimates indicate that 2009 was a slightly more challenging year than 2008, when XL Insurance reported premiums of $## million, against $## million in claims.
2009 – Ground Stations and Receivers – Snapshot
Ground equipment encompasses all the Earth-based infrastructure and technology necessary to communicate with and manage satellites, a market that totaled an estimated $## billion in 2009, slightly less than the $## billion total for 2008.
2009 – Space Stations – Snapshot
The largest in-space platform is the International Space Station. NASA, the main contributor to the ISS, received $## billion for the station in fiscal year (FY) 2010 compared to $## billion approved by Congress in FY 2009. This funding does not include flight or ground operations costs of shuttle flights to and from the ISS. During 2009, two major modules were added: the final truss segment and a section of the solar array. The truss acts as the junction through which external utilities, such as power, communications, and ammonia for thermal control systems, are routed to the pressurized modules.
2009 – Satellite Manufacturing – Snapshot
In 2009, governments, companies, and organizations launched ## satellites, compared to ## satellites launched in 2008. This total includes all payloads except for missions to the ISS and Hubble. The ## satellites generated $## billion in manufacturing revenue, an increase of ##% from the $## billion value of satellites manufactured in 2008. The $## billion change in total value from 2008 to 2009 stems primarily from the deployment of high-value defense satellites, such as the U.S. Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) ballistic missile warning satellites.
2009 – Human Launch -Snapshot
In addition to government human spaceflight efforts, some companies are developing commercial systems for orbital human spaceflight. Several American companies have shown an interest in orbital human spaceflight to serve both government and commercial customers. SpaceX has designed its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon capsule to be able to support human missions, although that is not a requirement under the terms of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program run by NASA. Orbital Sciences, the other U.S. company with a funded COTS agreement, has expressed interest in developing a crewed version of its Cygnus cargo spacecraft that would be able to carry three or four astronauts.
2009 – Launch Industry – Snapshot
In 2009, ## orbital launches were conducted, carrying ## payloads into space, including cargo, satellites, and other types of spacecraft. This marked a notable increase from the 2008 total of ## launches carrying 106 payloads, and continued a five-year trend of annual increases in launch activity. The 2005 total of ## launches and ## payloads began a period of #% average annual increase in launches. Of the ## launches in 2009, ## were conducted by commercial launch providers and ## were non-commercial.
2009 – Commercial Infrastructure and Support Industries – Snapshot
Aggregate 2009 revenue for commercial space infrastructure totaled $## billion. This figure includes revenue from satellite manufacturing, launch, and ground stations and equipment. Information regarding government infrastructure expenditures can be found in Government Space Budgets.
2009 – Economy – Snapshot
In the midst of the worst economic meltdown in decades, the global space industry experienced steady growth in 2009. Commercial space revenue and government budgets reached a combined total of $## billion in 2009, representing a #% increase from 2008. The 2009 total continued a four-year trend of expansion in the global space economy, demonstrating growth of ##% from $## billion in 2005. Global space activity figures from previous years have been adjusted due to methodology changes and new data, as described in the Summary of Data.
2009 – Official U.S. Workforce Statistics – Snapshot
In light of the ongoing conversation in the American space community about ensuring a long-term human capital supply, The Space Report 2010 identifies ## occupations important to sustaining space-relevant skill sets in the United States, and assembles data on them from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While many of the people in these occupational categories work in industries other than space, together they comprise a key part of the labor pool from which space workers are drawn.
2009 – Russia Human Launch – Snapshot
Russia increased in its human spaceflight operations significantly in 2009 by doubling the launch rate of its Soyuz spacecraft. Russia had been launching Soyuz missions twice a year, roughly six months apart, to support three-person crews on the ISS. In 2009, Russia launched four Soyuz missions, each carrying three people. This increased flight rate reflects the transition to six-person ISS crews now that the station can accommodate its full crew complement. Once the Space Shuttle is retired, Soyuz will be the sole provider of ISS crew transfers until an alternative system is in place. The four Soyuz flights in 2009 also carried two private spaceflight participants on trips arranged by U.S. company Space Adventures.