Browse Resources by Year

2014 – Japanese Space Industry Employment

From 2012 to 2013, Japan saw a ##% decrease in its workforce, shedding about ## jobs, for a total of ## space workers in 2013. Overall employment is still well above the 2008 low of ## employees, having grown ##% since then. This growth has not yet returned Japan to employment levels seen in the 1990s, when the Japanese space industry employed more than ## workers.

2014 – European Space Industry Employment

Each year, Eurospace, an association of the European space manufacturing industry, carries out a survey of the European space industry. The survey focuses on design, development, and manufacturing; it does not include companies specializing in space services, such as launch or satellite operations, nor non-space products, such as GPS receivers or satellite TV dishes. Some well-known European space companies, including Arianespace, SES Global, Eutelsat, and Inmarsat, are thus not included in the survey. Together, these companies would add thousands of employees.

2014 – U.S. Space Industry Outlook

Every two years, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics develops employment projections based on expected developments in the labor force and economy, changes in demographics and technology, and a variety of other factors. In January 2014, BLS released the 2014–2015 Occupational Outlook Handbook, covering projections for the 2012–2022 decade.

2014 – NASA Workforce

At the start of fiscal year (FY) 2015, NASA had ## employees. Since FY 2011, NASA’s workforce has declined by ##%, a loss of just over ## employees. This decrease coincided with the retirement of the Space Shuttle, the cancellation of the Constellation program, and decreasing budget.

2014 – U.S. Space Industry Employment

Each quarter, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes data on employment and salaries within U.S. establishments as reported by employers. This census includes ##% of U.S. jobs, making it the most comprehensive data set available for understanding trends in U.S. economy. The structure used to collect and provide this information is the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

2014 – Spaceports Overview

Space launch vehicles and their payloads are prepared and subsequently launched or deployed from facilities called spaceports. The scale of spaceports varies widely, whether measuring the area they cover or the activities they host.

2014 – Annual Space Situational Awareness Overview

As the space around Earth becomes increasingly crowded with satellites and debris, preventing further collisions is essential. Space Situational Awareness (SSA) systems are designed to locate and track objects in…

2014 – Earth Observation and Remote Sensing Overview

While communications satellites retransmit artificial signals from one part of the Earth to another, and PNT satellites simply transmit precise artificial signals to terrestrial receivers, remote sensing satellites collect naturally generated signals from the Earth’s surface, convert them to data, and send them to Earth-bound observers. Remote sensing satellites provide detailed images of the Earth and collect a wide variety of measurements from space, such as ocean temperature, vegetation coverage, or pollution levels.

2014 – Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Systems

The military and commercial value of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) systems has gained such prominence that PNT systems are often considered to be critical infrastructure. The proliferation of smartphones…

2014 – Satellite Overview

Satellites include a wide variety of systems performing an even wider range of missions from their different orbits. In 2014, launch operators attempted to place 296 spacecraft into orbit (including both satellites and other types of payloads), an increase of 38% from 215 spacecraft in 2013. The majority of spacecraft are launched to LEO—in 2014, this was the destination for 79% of all spacecraft, or 60% when excluding nanosatellites, which have masses of less than 10 kilograms (22 pounds).