2014
2014 – Satellite Overview
Satellites include a wide variety of systems performing an even wider range of missions from their different orbits. In 2014, launch operators attempted to place 296 spacecraft into orbit (including both satellites and other types of payloads), an increase of 38% from 215 spacecraft in 2013. The majority of spacecraft are launched to LEO—in 2014, this was the destination for 79% of all spacecraft, or 60% when excluding nanosatellites, which have masses of less than 10 kilograms (22 pounds).
2014 – Annual Space Stations Overview
While satellites are essentially a platform upon which useful equipment can be mounted, space stations are a fundamentally different kind of asset. Space stations have been envisioned as permanent or semi-permanent bases where astronauts could take advantage of the microgravity and vacuum conditions to research new manufacturing techniques. In addition, space stations were foreseen as rest, refueling, and assembly points for vessels heading beyond Earth’s orbit.
2014 – Orbital Launch Reports and Forecasts
The table below shows each spacefaring nation’s space launch vehicle platforms active in the current year. Launch tracking and launch system information relies on various primary and government sources. The current year’s launch reliability shows the number of successful launches over the number of total launches for the year.
2014 – Orbital Human Space Launch
It is relatively simple to place a satellite into orbit when compared with launching humans to space. Humans have more complex needs, such as breathable air, food, staying warm, staying cool, and protection from the space environment. Humans must also be able to return safely to Earth from their trip to space. Over the years, a variety of spacecraft were specifically designed to fulfill these requirements. Rockets, originally designed to return to selected points of the Earth quickly and destructively, began to incorporate changes for human needs and requirements as well. Two nations, the United States and Russia, pioneered the development of space systems to launch humans into space more than half a century ago.
2014 – Annual Infrastructure Overview
What does it take to deploy a satellite? What is required to command it to point at an area of the Earth, or into the depths of outer space, and then receive useful data from the satellite’s on-board equipment? Space infrastructure ties all space operations together, whether conducted by military, government, commercial, or even volunteer organizations. Rockets rising from the Earth into space; the facilities and spaceports designed to launch specific rocket types; the command and space operations centers full of space professionals monitoring rocket and satellite health while sending out invisible commands; the space stations and capsules carrying astronauts across space, sending streams of data back to Earth; and the satellites of many different nations, silently moving around the Earth and accomplishing amazing feats in our solar system—all of this constitutes space infrastructure.
2014 – Additional Country Space Budgets
Around the globe, many smaller nations—whether in terms of economy or population size—are investing in space projects or programs. The exhibit below shows the most recent available annual budget for civil space activities in a number of selected space states.
2014 – South Korean Government Space Budget
South Korea’s civil space program is overseen by the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning (MSIP). The Ministry also drafts, authorizes, and coordinates national space policy and has regulatory authority over space object registration, launch authorization, and launch insurance requirements. South Korea’s 2014 budget was ₩## billion (US$## million), which was ##% of South Korea’s 2014 national budget of ₩## trillion (US$## billion). The largest portion of the total space budget was allocated to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), which received approximately ₩## billion (US$## million).
2014 – Russian Government Space Budget
In 2014, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos received a budget of approximately ## billion rubles (US$## billion). This is a ##% increase from the 2013 budget of ## billion rubles (US$## billion). This was the last budget to be assigned to Roscosmos prior to a reorganization of Russian space activities. In 2014, the Russian government consolidated organizations whose activities include developing, manufacturing, testing, shipping, and selling rockets. This joint stock company, called United Rocket and Space Corporation (URSC), was wholly owned by the Russian Federation and combined 62 entities. In January 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the further consolidation of URSC and Roscosmos.
2014 – Japanese Government Space Budget
Japan’s FY 2014 space budget, which extended from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015, encompassed 11 different government organizations and totaled ¥## billion ($## billion), which included ¥## billion ($## million) in supplemental funds carried over from FY 2013. This was an ##% increase over its 2013 budget of ¥## billion ($## billion).
2014 – Israeli Government Space Budget
Israel often works with other countries to cooperate in its space endeavors, whether civil, national security (or dual-use), or commercial. Its civil space organization, the Israel Space Agency (ISA), overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology & Space, has had a reference annual budget of ## million shekels (US$## million) since 2012—prior to that it received a nominal fee for basic operations, and any needs for individual projects beyond a few million shekels had to be requested from the Ministry of Finance.