2009
2009 – Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) – Snapshot
Mobile satellite services (MSS) providers connect phones and other handheld devices directly to satellites to provide near-constant coverage, even in African villages, Antarctic bases, offshore oil rigs, and other remote places not served by terrestrial facilities. The services themselves can include telephone calls, internet access, or mobile television and radio. The satellite fleets can use different orbits ranging from LEO all the way up to GEO.
2009 – U.S. Space Industry Salaries – Snapshot
Space industry jobs stimulate the overall economy more than most other jobs because they offer higher salaries on average. Higher salaries provide professionals with more discretionary income to consume goods and services or reinvest in the larger economy. They also foster a larger tax base with which to make public investments.
2009 – Spaceports – Snapshot
Spaceports operate around the world, offering different capabilities and operational scale. In its most basic form, a spaceport is a facility dedicated to launching an orbital or suborbital craft. This can be as basic and streamlined as a concrete pad, a launch rail, a fuel depot, and a simple control room. Alternatively, it can be a huge facility that extends over of hundreds of square kilometers and incorporates tracking stations, payload processing and integration facilities, long runways, and additional facilities for visitors and media.
2009 – U.S. Human Launch – Snapshot
The Space Shuttle, also known as the Space Transportation System (STS), consists of an active fleet of three orbiters: Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. The Shuttles are the United States’ primary method of transferring crew, supplies, and new modules to the ISS.
2009 – Disaster Charter – Snapshot
Remote sensing satellites provide data to assess the scope and impact of disasters that have occurred. The information also enables planning for the mitigation of events that may occur. The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters provides a means for relief agencies to request satellite imagery of an area affected by a disaster.
2009 – U.S. National Security Space Budgets – Snapshot
Estimating worldwide government spending on military space activities is difficult because in most cases defense budgets are not fully, or even partially, transparent. The opaque nature of defense programs is complicated by the fact that many space products and applications have dual civilian and military uses, so the funding sources may be mixed between civil and military budgets. However, it is possible to estimate non-US military space spending in the aggregate based on observed trends in national programs and priorities. In 2008, it was estimated that ##% of the worldwide government spending on defense-related space programs occurred in the United States. Estimated U.S. defense space spending in 2009 totaled $## billion, meaning that worldwide military space spending in 2009, excluding the United States, can be estimated at $## billion.
2009 – European Military Space Budget – Snapshot
In Europe, industrial revenues from the sale and production of military-space related products and services have been steadily increasing over recent years. Based on trends in past revenue from European industry’s sales to governments, it can be estimated that European industrial revenue in 2009 from sales related to government military space programs will reach €## billion (US$## billion). In France, the government has announced plans to increase the annual military space budget to €## million (US$## million) by 2014, a ##% increase from the 2008 level of €## million (US$## million).
2009 – Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) Space Activities – Snapshot
GEO satellites provide a wide fixed coverage area, making them ideal for reaching a community of stationary antennas that do not need to track a moving object in space. The dominant providers of international fixed satellite services (FSS) are Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat, and Telesat. These four companies collectively own slightly more than half of all GEO commercial communications satellites, and represented ##% of total FSS market revenues in 2008.
2009 – South Korean Government Space Budget – Snapshot
In 2009, South Korea spent an estimated ## billion won (US$## million) on civil space, a ##% decrease from the 2008 budget of ## billion won (US$## million). While South Korea’s space budget decreased between 2008 and 2009 in the national currency, changes in the dollar to won exchange rate during that time resulted in a slight increase in the U.S. dollar equivalent value for the 2009 budget as compared to 2008. South Korea’s 2009 civil space spending constitutes approximately ##% of the country’s ## trillion won (US$## billion) national budget. Civil space activities in South Korea are carried out by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
2009 – Trends and Events Affecting U.S. Employment – Snasphot
From 2004 to 2008, nearly four U.S. space jobs were added for every one that was lost. During this period, employment in every sector of the U.S. space industry recorded by the BLS grew, except for satellite telecommunications. The bursting of the telecom bubble led to a decline in U.S. satellite telecommunications jobs from ## in 2001 to ## by 2004, a contraction of nearly 24%.