France
2012 – Meteorology
Weather satellites form another major segment of remote sensing satellites, typically operating in GEO or polar LEO orbits. These systems are primarily operated by national governments for forecasting near-term weather patterns. Delays and funding issues could endanger the robustness of some weather satellites programs, as several existing polar satellites are operating near or beyond their design life and are in need of replacement. One program in particular, the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), is set to replace the aging Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) fleet.
2012 – Land Imaging
Land imaging satellite performance is described using a variety of characteristics, including differences in spatial resolution (as measured by how many pixels compose an object), positional accuracies (as measured by the extent to which objects are represented accurately), and spectral capabilities (as measured by wavelengths of light captured, including visible and beyond-visible spectra). High-resolution land imaging satellites have resolutions below 1 meter (3 feet) per pixel, allowing users to distinguish cars from trucks, for example.
2012 – ESA: SSA
Europe is investing in a pan-European SSA capability through an ESA program that was initiated in 2009. Investment of €## million (US$## million) was initially requested for full-scale development, but ESA governments decided to spend only €## million (US$## million) over three years. So far, ESA has spent €## million (US$## million) on development. Some of that funding supported construction of ## prototype space surveillance radars. The first radar, located in Spain and built by Germany, was completed in October 2012 with validation and testing beginning in November.
2012 – Remote Sensing Ground Networks
Ground facilities support space infrastructure by controlling spacecraft or processing the data that satellites gather and send to Earth. Remote sensing satellites orbit the Earth, gathering data that then needs to be archived, processed, and analyzed while the satellites themselves need to be tasked and targeted to collect imagery in the most efficient manner possible. To perform these tasks, commercial remote sensing satellite operators have established networks of satellite control stations, data reception stations, and data processing centers.
2012 – Satellite Radio
Revenue for satellite radio broadcasting is estimated at $## billion in 2012, a ##% increase from $## billion in 2011. Sirius XM continues to be the sole revenue generator in this industry segment. In Europe, Madrid-based Ondas Media confirmed that it has temporarily abandoned its plan to launch its own radio broadcasting satellite due to Europe’s ongoing economic challenges. However, the company’s French affiliate, Onde Numérique, still plans to introduce its service in France by 2013.
2012 – French Government Space Budget
France’s space agency, the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), operated on a government budget of approximately €## million (US$## billion) in 2012, excluding contributions made to ESA and EUMETSAT. This represented a ##% increase from the 2011 budget of €## million (US$## billion). In 2012, France contributed €## million (US$## million) to EUMETSAT and €## million (US$## million) to ESA programs, including €## million (US$## million) in program contributions and €## million (US$## million) to pay down outstanding debt to ESA.
2012 – European Space Agency Budget
ESA operated with a 2012 budget of €## billion (US$## billion), a ##% increase from the 2011 budget of €## billion (US$## billion). As in the prior two years, the largest three ESA funding line items were Earth observation activities at ##%, navigation activities at ##%, and activities related to the Ariane and Vega launch vehicles at ##% of the budget. During 2012, Poland signed a formal Accession Agreement to become ESA’s twentieth member state. Poland’s mandatory contribution as an ESA member will begin to appear in ESA budgets starting in 2013.
2012 – Government Space Budgets Overview
Government space programs accounted for approximately $## billion in spending during 2012, representing ##% of the global space economy. Government investment in space grew by ##% in 2012, a rate lower than the average annual ##% growth rate between 2008 and 2012. The top-line figures, however, do not fully depict how some countries have significantly increased space spending while others have made cuts, as shown in Exhibit 2o below. Governments do not all operate under the same fiscal cycle, so international space spending numbers were derived…
2012 – European Space Industry Employment
The European space workforce includes workers from ## European countries across three segments of the industry: spacecraft, launch, and ground. The five countries with the largest workforces, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Spain, accounted for more than ##% of the total European space workforce in 2011. The workforce numbers include industries involved in designing, developing, and manufacturing space systems in the spacecraft, launch, and ground sectors. The numbers do not include the workforce of companies developing consumer devices, such as GPS or satellite television receivers, nor do they include employment by companies that carry out space services based on the exploitation of space assets, such as launch service providers.
2012 – Building Space Infrastructure and Achieving Mission Objectives Within Reduced Budgets
Today, nations are under pressure to replace aging satellite infrastructure while continuing to deploy new satellite systems and achieve the related mission objectives within the constraints of tighter budgets. The situation is particularly challenging in the United States, where all government agen… Thank you for visiting The Space Report! The Authoritative Guide to Global Space…