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2009 – Chinese Government Space Budget – Snapshot

The Chinese civil space budget is not published, and estimates of spending vary widely. In 2005, the vice administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) stated that the Chinese space budget was US$## million. However, many analysts contend that annual Chinese civil space spending is in fact considerably higher, reaching as much as US$## billion. China has demonstrated dramatic space progress in the past decade, which likely can be linked to growing space expenditures through the CNSA.

2009 – Top-level Trends – Snapshot

As nations around the world increase investment in both space activity and space human capital infrastructure, traditional models of space education and workforce development are increasingly being supplemented by newer approaches. These approaches emphasize the potential for international space education cooperation and focus on engaging student interest in space at an early age.

2008 – Demographics

Women constituted a majority of students who received post-secondary degrees. In 2006, some 58% of all bachelor’s degrees were awarded to women, up from 51% in 1986. In degree fields critical to the space industry, however, women are still woefully underrepresented.

2008 – Degrees Awarded

Note: This exhibit is from The Space Report 2009. Please refer to this year’s exhibits for the most current data as numbers may have been revised since this edition was…

2008 – Post-secondary STEM Education

New manpower, especially the recruitment of talented college graduates with degrees in such fields as astronomy; aeronautical and astronautical engineering; atmospheric, Earth, and space sciences; and mathematics, will be key to ensuring the health and vitality of the country’s space industry. What follows is an overview of a few major trends in postsecondary science and engineering education.

2008 – TIMSS

To gauge how U.S. elementary and middle school students compare with other students in math and science, the results of a test administered by the U.S. Department of Education, known as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) provide a standardized global measure. The most recent test was administered in 2007.

2008 – NAEP

Starting at the 4th grade level, only 39% of students tested proficient or higher in mathematics in 2007, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card. . .

2008 – Top-level Trends

“Many young people today with a technical bent are more entranced with the Internet or biotechnology than space exploration. Space travel, after all, was a fascination of their parents’ generation,” noted a February 2003 Wall Street Journal article on recruiting challenges confronting NASA.

2008 – Official U.S. Workforce Statistics

The Space Report 2009 identifies nine occupations particularly relevant to the U.S. space industry. They are shown in Exhibit 4i. These ## occupations not only comprise a diversified set of skills required to create a foundation for space activity, they also reflect the need to build space-related human capital through postsecondary education.

2008 – U.S. Space Industry Salaries

As Exhibit 4e shows, the combined average annual salary across the six core U.S. space industry sectors analyzed was $## in 2007, nearly double the average salary of U.S. professionals in the average private sector overall. For the first time on record, professionals in the federal space research and space vehicle manufacturing sectors earned an average salary above six figures, more than $##, or 2.3 times that of the average U.S. private sector worker.