Browse Resources by Year

2011 – EUMETSAT Space Budget – Snapshot

EUMETSAT, which operates a pan-European system of meteorological satellites, planned a 2011 budget of €## million (US$## million). Approximately €## million (US$## million) of that budget was contributed to activities executed by ESA and is included in the ESA budget totals. EUMETSAT is responsible for the operations of a fleet of meteorological satellites and the associated ground control and data processing systems.

2011 – Military Reconnaissance – Snapshot

The German Federal Armed Forces operate a ##-satellite LEO fleet called SAR-Lupe, which provides radar imagery with one-meter (3-foot) resolution for surveillance purposes.

2011 – Military Satellite Overview Snapshot

The national defense needs of many countries help to drive demand for satellite capacity. Armed forces and international peacekeeping organizations from across the globe lease capacity from various commercial satellite operators or acquire Earth imagery services from commercial companies. Military forces are also building more of their own dedicated satellites due to increased capacity demands and the need for secure connectivity for deployed troops.

2011 – European Space Agency Budget – Snapshot

ESA, representing 19 member states, had a 2011 budget of €## billion (US$## billion), a ##% increase over the 2010 budget of €## billion (US$## billion). As in the previous year, the largest three ESA funding line items are Earth observation activities at ##%, navigation activities at ##%, and activities related to the Ariane and Vega launch vehicles at ##% of the budget.

2011 – European Commission Space Budget – Snapshot

The EC 2011 budget included €## billion (US$## billion) in funding for space-related programs (excluding EUMETSAT), a reduction of ##% from 2010 levels. This represented approximately ##% of the EU’s €## billion (US$## billion) 2011 budget. EC budgets operate as yearly funding commitments within multi-year funding periods.

2011 – Workforce – Snapshot

The hundreds of thousands of talented individuals working in the global space industry are critical to its overall success and future growth. The trends in space employment and education provide an indicator of the health of the industry, showing growth or decline not only in the current workforce, but also in the likely pool of future qualified individuals.

2011 – Meteorology – Snapshot

Funding is a serious concern for government-supported remote sensing satellite endeavors. Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program is facing difficulties because of the global economic climate, which is forcing many space programs around the world to cut costs. In November 2011, the European Commission (EC) proposed moving funding for operating the GMES space segment from the 27-member commission to the individual EU member states.

2011 – Chinese Government Space Budget – Snapshot

Responsibility for Chinese space activities is shared by several agencies, including the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which operates the country’s human spaceflight program and its launch centers. The structure and organization of the Chinese space program, and the delineation between civil and military aspects, is not transparent. This, along with the involvement of the PLA in operational space aspects, makes obtaining credible data on the Chinese national space budget difficult. One way to estimate Chinese space spending is by comparing China to its peers.

2011- Land Imaging – Snapshot

Two major players in satellite-based Earth imagery are U.S. companies DigitalGlobe and GeoEye. Both companies provide imagery to widely used applications such as Google Earth. In August 2010, the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) awarded 10-year contracts to the companies, valued at $## billion for GeoEye and $## billion for DigitalGlobe, under the agency’s EnhancedView procurement. The NGA specializes in mapping and imagery intelligence, and played a key role in the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in May 2011 by providing satellite imagery, geospatial and targeting analysis, and modeling support to plan the successful mission.

2011 – Ground Observatories, Astronomy – Snapshot

To improve the resolution from ground-based observatories and to capture light from distant, dim objects, telescopes are growing larger. Due to the correspondingly large cost of construction and operation, these massive telescopes are often supported financially by multinational consortia.