Economy
2008 – U.S. Civil Space Budgets – Snapshot
The United States budget for NASA was $## billion in FY 2008 and the budget request for FY 2009 was $## billion. Consistent with past allocations, the FY 2010 budget request of $## billion represents about ##%, or a little more than half a penny for each dollar in the president’s total budget request of $## trillion. Major 2009 activities will include up to five shuttle missions on the path to the planned retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2010, ongoing coordination of final ISS assembly, and a variety of scientific missions. To provide a more detailed view of the NASA program activity, Exhibit 1n shows a summary by program through 2013 based on NASA’s FY 2009 Budget Request, which includes appropriated funds for FY 2008.
2008 – U.S. National Security Space Budgets – Snapshot
As noted, DoD spending represents a majority of U.S. government space funding, yet there is limited clarity regarding what is included in this funding overall or how the funds are broken down between the individual military services. As a result, the Defense Appropriations bill passed by Congress for FY 2008 called on the Pentagon to develop a Major Force Program (MFP) budget category to aggregate space spending in a single budget line, including not only equipment and services procurement, but also research and technology development programs. The FY 2009 budget request submitted to Congress identified $## billion as related to major joint space-based programs, including Space-Based Infrared Systems, communications satellites, GPS satellites, environmental satellites, Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellites, and related launch vehicles.
2008 – United States Government Space Budget – Snapshot
NASA and the DoD, the two largest space agencies in the world, dominate the U.S. space budget. The budgets for these two represent ##% of estimated U.S. government space funding. When estimates of all U.S. defense-related space activities are combined, the total is $## billion, or ##% of total U.S. government space funding. This figure includes space budget estimates for DoD, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and the Missile Defense Agency. DoD space spending, combined with the budgets of these additional defense agencies, plus NASA make up ##% of the U.S. government space budget. In addition to NASA, civil space programs of the Department of Energy, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provide an additional $## billion of U.S. government space funding.
2008 – Government Space Budgets – Snapshot
Throughout the world, large-scale space programs, particularly those tied to national scientific or defense programs, are heavily supported by government budgets. Government spending accounted for ##% of global space activity in 2008. The United States accounted for ##% of this global government spending. Space budgets for other governments rose nearly ##% in U.S. dollars, though actual growth was closer to ##% when adjusted for currency fluctuations.
2008 – Commercial Human Spaceflight – Snapshot
The personal spaceflight market continues to promise a bright future as commercial flights get under way as early as 2010 and demand and sales begin to increase. RocketShip Tours announced that rides aboard the Lynx, a suborbital vehicle being constructed by XCOR Aerospace, would cost $95,000 apiece. XCOR has already booked reservations for about 22 flights, each reservation secured by a deposit of $20,000. Space Adventures accumulated $30 million in revenue during 2008 due to entrepreneur Richard Garriott’s trip to the ISS. Garriott is the son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott; they are the first American father and son to have left the Earth’s atmosphere. In 2009, Charles Simonyi, CEO and President of Intentional Software, is to be Space Adventures’ first repeat space explorer. He traveled to the ISS in 2007 and was scheduled for a second visit in March 2009. In addition, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has secured a future Space Adventures flight with a $5 million down payment.
2007 – Commercial Human Spaceflight
While the personal spaceflight market is still in its early stages, revenue continues to accumulate for individual trips and as deposits for future flights. Charles Simonyi, by his own account, paid $## million for his 2007 flight to the ISS. Alex Tai, chief operating officer of Virgin Galactic, a spaceline offering suborbital flights, reported in late 2007 that the company had collected $## million in deposits for future suborbital trips aboard SpaceShipTwo.
2007 – Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Services
Sales of GPS equipment and chipsets grew ##% in 2007, reaching an estimated $## billion in revenue. Of the estimated $## billion in economic activity in the global space economy, GPS equipment sales account for ##%. ABI Research estimates the total GPS equipment market to be $## billion in 2007. However, this includes $## billion in revenue from mobile phones that incorporate a GPS chipset. These are not included in the totals for global space activity because GPS capabilities are secondary applications of these devices.
2007 – Earth Observation
BCC Research, a market analysis firm, reports that revenue for all remote sensing products exceeded $# billion in 2006. In a separate study, the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) estimates that the space component of the total remote sensing market is nearly ##%.
2007 – Satellite Television
DTH television had a strong growth year, with total global revenue of $## billion and a total of ## million subscribers, as estimated by In-Stat, a digital communications market research firm. This represented an ##% increase over 2006 estimated revenue. The exhibit Satellite Direct-to-Home Television Revenue compares 2006 and 2007 revenue for DIRECTV and DISH Network Corporation, two major North American providers.
2007 – Satellite Radio
Total 2007 revenue for digital audio radio services (DARS) or satellite radio is approximately $## billion, a ##% increase over 2006. This number is the sum of XM Satellite Radio ($## billion), SIRIUS Satellite Radio ($## million), and WorldSpace Satellite Radio ($## million).