Browse Resources by Country

2015 – Communications Satellites – Snapshot

Constellations of communications satellites have been in use since the 1990s, and several companies are either in the midst of deploying second-generation constellations or completely new ones. Globalstar, Iridium, and Orbcomm were the first three major companies to create this type of constellation.

2015 – Annual Launch Activity – Snapshot

With a total of 86 orbital launch attempts worldwide, 2015 fell slightly short of 2014’s record of 92. A slight dip in launch activity growth trend was observed, with three failures out of 86 launch attempts.

2015 – U.S. Missile Defense – Snapshot

U.S missile defense has its roots in the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), announced in 1983 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan. SDI was initially intended to defend the United States against the launch of thousands of nuclear-tipped Soviet missiles. SDI would have used a combination of advanced space and ground systems to shoot the missiles out of the sky.