2022
Study Shows Steady Decline in U.S. Students Studying Engineering, Science
![U.S. Space firms battling for workers in an increasingly tight employment market could face a bigger fight after five years of declining enrollment for engineering and science majors at American colleges and universities.](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/An-engineering-student-works-in-a-University-of-Washington-laboratory-in-Seattle.-150x150.jpg)
![U.S. Space firms battling for workers in an increasingly tight employment market could face a bigger fight after five years of declining enrollment for engineering and science majors at American colleges and universities.](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/An-engineering-student-works-in-a-University-of-Washington-laboratory-in-Seattle..jpg)
U.S. Space firms battling for workers in an increasingly tight employment market could face a bigger fight after five years of declining enrollment for engineering and science majors at American colleges and universities.
U.S. Military Space Spending 2005-2022
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Gallagher said the military must accelerate its efforts in space and cyberspace to keep pace with Russia and China, improving Pentagon cybersecurity and redesigning Space Force satellites to harden constellations against attack.
State of Space 2023
Number of FAA Licensed and Permitted Operations Worldwide by Fiscal Year, 2015-2026
![As the pace of small satellite development and global launches continues to accelerate, nations around the world are developing spaceport policies and courting launch providers and other space industries with the intent of expanding their access space.](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Number-of-FAA-Licensed-and-Permitted-Operations-Worldwide-by-Fiscal-Year-2015-2026_wordss-150x150.jpg)
![As the pace of small satellite development and global launches continues to accelerate, nations around the world are developing spaceport policies and courting launch providers and other space industries with the intent of expanding their access space.](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Number-of-FAA-Licensed-and-Permitted-Operations-Worldwide-by-Fiscal-Year-2015-2026_wordss.jpg)
The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation and the Office of Spaceports have growing data supporting the rising pace of launches and the current strain on U.S. launch capacity.
U.S. Space Force Officers, 2022
![](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/U.S.-Space-Force-Officers-2022-screenshot-1-150x150.jpg)
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Over the course of 2022, the Space Force continued to grow through the transfer of individuals from other branches of the military. In 2022, 243 transfer slots — 29 officer and 214 enlisted — were available.
Average Satellite Mass per Payload (kg), 2012-2022
![On-orbit refueling and repair of satellites are old if seemingly commonsense concepts. Government and commercial satellite operators have historically invested significantly in their satellites and squeezing. . .](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Average-Satellite-Mass-per-Payload-kg-2012-2022-150x150.jpg)
![On-orbit refueling and repair of satellites are old if seemingly commonsense concepts. Government and commercial satellite operators have historically invested significantly in their satellites and squeezing. . .](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Average-Satellite-Mass-per-Payload-kg-2012-2022.jpg)
For 2022, spacecraft deployed with a mass of 1,000 kg or less numbered an estimated
2,144. Th ere were 65 spacecraft massing more than 1,000 kg deployed during 2022.16 Despite the increase in large spacecraft
deployments in 2022, their share of overall satellite deployments remained under 3%.
Campaign Spending by Aerospace and Defense PACs by Political Party 2012-2022
![Political action committees (PACs) representing aerospace industry and defense firms weighted their federal campaign donations narrowly toward Republicans during the 2022 campaign cycle.](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Campaign-Spending-by-Aerospace-and-Defense-PACs-by-Political-Party-2012-2022_sShot-1-150x150.jpg)
![Political action committees (PACs) representing aerospace industry and defense firms weighted their federal campaign donations narrowly toward Republicans during the 2022 campaign cycle.](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Campaign-Spending-by-Aerospace-and-Defense-PACs-by-Political-Party-2012-2022_sShot-1.jpg)
Political action committees (PACs) representing aerospace industry and defense firms weighted their federal campaign donations narrowly toward Republicans during the 2022 campaign cycle.
U.S. 8th Grade Math Scores
![](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/8th-Grade-Math-Scores-2019-22-150x150.png)
![](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/8th-Grade-Math-Scores-2019-22.png)
. . . students who struggle in high school math and science classes won’t cut it in college engineering classes unless higher education institutions invest heavily in remedial education to build skills students should have mastered in high school.
INFOGRAPHIC Artemis I
CNES Space Spending by Type, 2005-2021
![](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/CNES-Space-Spending-by-Type-2005-2021-150x150.jpg)
![](https://www.thespacereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/CNES-Space-Spending-by-Type-2005-2021.jpg)
Including defense spending and contributions to third parties such as ESA, France’s total space spending in 2021 was the fourth-largest in the world behind the U.S., China, and Japan.
Expenditures by program are not available yet for 2022 but launch vehicle development tends to be the largest portion of CNES’ budget. From 2017 to 2021, the Ariane program composed an average of 32% of the agency’s non-ESA expenditures.