OECD Report: A New Space Race

Oct 25, 2014 | Ask the Experts — Answers, Benefits of Space Exploration, Blog, Canadian Space Agency, China, Commercial Space, Education Station, European Space Agency, International Cooperation, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Kids Space, NASA, Space Race, Why Space

Credit: OECD

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has unveiled their new report: The Space Economy at a Glance 2014.

The report provides a statistical overview of the global space sector and its contributions to economic activity.

This new edition provides indicators and statistics based on both official and private data, in over forty countries with space programs, and identifies new dynamics in the space sector.

Globalization

The report notes that globalization is affecting the space economy at different levels.

In the 1980s, only a handful of countries had the capacity to build and launch a satellite. Many more countries and corporate players across a wide range of industrial sectors are now engaged in space-related activities, a trend that is expected to strengthen in the coming years.

Supply chains for the development and operation of space systems are also increasingly evolving at the international level, even if the space sector remains heavily influenced and shaped by strategic and security considerations. Many space technologies are dual use, i.e. employed for both civilian and military programs, which tends to constrain international
trade in space products.

Nonetheless, as evidenced by recent OECD research on global value chains, product and service supply chains for space systems are internationalizing at a rapid pace.

Space budgets

Among key findings, the report states:

Countries with long-established space programs face growing challenges as lower costs and technological advances draw more countries and companies into the sector and give rise to a burgeoning commercial space industry.

The Space Economy at a Glance 2014 shows that while space budgets in the 34 OECD countries totaled USD 50.8 billion in 2013, down from USD 52.3 billion in 2008, the combined space budget of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) swelled to USD 24.0 billion from USD 16.5 billion over the same period.

To view this new OECD (2014) report, go to:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264217294-en

By Leonard David