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Satellite Communications and Navigation for Snow Dogs

Satellite technology is used to both protect and assist competitors in the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across Alaska, using GPS services supported by the Iridium communications satellite system. The Iditarod Trail Committee is now requiring that the tracking device, provided by race-tracking company IonEarth, be attached to each dog sled.

Integrating Gaming with GPS

The satellite-based GPS network provides the basis for a number of new products. Garmin, Magellan, and other manufacturers have created innovative units such as a waterproof handheld GPS device for golfers that calculates distances to the green and other points on a golf course, providing the user with precise information for club selection and strategy.

2009 – Perspective

Connections between people are the foundation of society. Whether by telephone, internet, or face-to-face conversation, people have an innate desire to communicate with friends, family, colleagues, and contacts near or far. Corporations stake their credibility and competitiveness on how well they share data or provide connectivity to their customers.

2009 – Global Space Workforce and Education – Snapshot

Nations around the world recognize the potential of space activity to create high-paying jobs, enable new industries and technologies, increase national competitiveness, and add value to the economy. Building for a future that envisions their increasing participation in space, countries are responding with notable human capital investments that combine traditional models of space education with emerging new approaches.

2009 – Products and Services – Snapshot

Use of satellite-based positioning, navigation, and timing services such as GPS continues to grow worldwide. GPS is operated by the United States as a global utility in which U.S. taxpayers fund development and operations. Although GPS was developed and is maintained by the military, it is now offered free of charge to users around the globe.

2009 – Space Products and Services Overview- Snapshot

While space remains remote and mysterious in many ways, it has also become a part of everyday life. A fleet of nearly 1,000 satellites orbiting high above provides a connection between space and life on Earth. These spacecraft explore the Solar System and the cosmos, collect information on the Earth’s climate and geography, link distant people and organizations, and relay information to and from the Earth.

2009 – ISS – Snapshot

The best-known in-space platform is the International Space Station (ISS), a project led by the United States in conjunction with Russia, Canada, Japan, and several member nations of ESA. The ISS operates in LEO and serves as a research facility and testing laboratory. The station has been crewed by astronauts and cosmonauts from 15 different nations and has been serviced by a variety of spacecraft.

2009 – U.S. Space Workforce – Snapshot

More than a ## million people in the United States are employed in the space industry, according to data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This level of employment has remained relatively stable throughout the first decade of the 21st century, never dropping below ##.

2009 – Japanese Space Industry Employment – Snapshot

According to the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies, there were ## Japanese space employees in 2007, the most recent year for which data was available. Japanese space employment declined sharply between 1998 and 2003, mirroring workforce reductions that occurred in the United States and Europe linked to the telecommunications industry.

2009 – European Space Industry Employment – Snapshot

By 2008, European space employment reached ## full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, which remains ##% lower than the near-historic high in 2001, when employment totaled approximately ## jobs with ##% annual growth. Space employment fell each year from 2002 to 2005, including a ##% decrease in 2005 when space employment fell to ## FTE employees. Beginning in 2006, growth resumed, with ##% employment growth in 2008.