Commercial Infrastructure and Support Industries
Satellite Manufacturing
Rivals Launch Military Satellites Amid U.S.-led Space Defense Drills
A flurry of military and intelligence satellite launches by rival powers this month came as the United States and two dozen partner nations wrapped up the largest global space defense wargame in history.
Russia launched what some leaders have described as a spy satellite for Iran and its own on-orbit snooping satellite Cosmos-2558, which is circling Earth in an orbit conspicuously close to a recently launched U.S. National Reconnaissance Office satellite, a Netherlands researcher confirmed.
Broadband Constellations: Market Challenges Remain as Launched Satellites Climb to More Than 1,000
At the end of 2020, more communications satellites orbited the Earth than all communications satellites deployed during the previous 10 years. Operators deployed more than. . .
2018 – Focusing on Small Satellite Growth and Manufacturing
As readers review the data within the spacecraft section of the Quarter 1 2018 issue of The Space Report, they will probably notice that one company keeps showing up as a significant contributor in the industry of spacecraft manufacturing and operations…
2017 – Satellite Manufacturing – Snapshot
Among the 443 spacecraft launched in 2017, there were 267 commercial payloads, constituting 60.3% of the total. This was more than . . .
2016 – Satellite Manufacturing – Snapshot
Aboard the ## rockets that attempted a launch in 2016, there were ## spacecraft, down ##% from ## in 2015. Of the spacecraft intended for orbit in 2016, ## were nanosatellites weighing less than…
2015 – Satellite Manufacturing
Aboard the 86 rockets that attempted a launch in 2015, there were 262 spacecraft, down 11% from 296 in 2014. Of the spacecraft intended for orbit in 2015, 126 were nanosatellites weighing less than 10 kilograms (22 pounds), a type of satellite whose numbers have increased in recent years.
Economy: Space Economy – TSR 2015
2014 – Satellite Manufacturing
Aboard the ## rockets that attempted a launch in 2014, there were ## spacecraft. Contributing to this very high number, ## of the spacecraft were nanosatellites weighing less than 10 kilograms (22 pounds), a type of satellite whose numbers have skyrocketed in very recent years. The increase of such light spacecraft activity is mostly related to the growing popularity of cubesats, a subcategory of nanosatellites based on a minimalist and open-source design proposed in 1999 by California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University.
Economy: Space Economy – TSR 2014
2013 – Satellite Manufacturing
A total of ## satellites were launched (or attempted to be launched) in 2013, a ##% increase from the ## satellites launched in 2012. This includes all payloads launched into space with the exception of technology development payloads and missions to the ISS. This dramatic shift is due primarily to deployment of ## microsatellites—satellites less than 91 kilograms (200 pounds) in mass—in 2013, as compared to the five-year average from 2009 to 2013 of only ## microsatellites per year.