Germany
2012 – Mexican Government Space Budget
In calendar year 2012, the government of Mexico allocated a budget of ## million pesos (US$# million) to the Agencia Espacial Mexicana (AEM). The agency was established by law in 2010 and commenced operations in late 2011, so 2012 was the first full year of activity. AEM is a young and growing agency, and its budget is expected to rise to ## million pesos (US$# million) in calendar year 2013.
2012 – German Government Space Budget
The Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Germany’s national space agency, oversaw an authorized budget of €## million (US$## million) in 2012, excluding contributions made to ESA. This represents an increase of ##% from 2011. In addition to DLR-only spending, Germany made €## million (US$## million) in ESA contributions in 2012. Combined, the DLR authorization and ESA contribution totaled €## billion (US$## billion), representing approximately ##% of Germany’s 2012 budget of €## billion ($## billion).
2012 – European Space Agency Budget
ESA operated with a 2012 budget of €## billion (US$## billion), a ##% increase from the 2011 budget of €## billion (US$## billion). As in the prior two years, the largest three ESA funding line items were Earth observation activities at ##%, navigation activities at ##%, and activities related to the Ariane and Vega launch vehicles at ##% of the budget. During 2012, Poland signed a formal Accession Agreement to become ESA’s twentieth member state. Poland’s mandatory contribution as an ESA member will begin to appear in ESA budgets starting in 2013.
2012 – Government Space Budgets Overview
Government space programs accounted for approximately $## billion in spending during 2012, representing ##% of the global space economy. Government investment in space grew by ##% in 2012, a rate lower than the average annual ##% growth rate between 2008 and 2012. The top-line figures, however, do not fully depict how some countries have significantly increased space spending while others have made cuts, as shown in Exhibit 2o below. Governments do not all operate under the same fiscal cycle, so international space spending numbers were derived…
2012 – European Space Industry Employment
The European space workforce includes workers from ## European countries across three segments of the industry: spacecraft, launch, and ground. The five countries with the largest workforces, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Spain, accounted for more than ##% of the total European space workforce in 2011. The workforce numbers include industries involved in designing, developing, and manufacturing space systems in the spacecraft, launch, and ground sectors. The numbers do not include the workforce of companies developing consumer devices, such as GPS or satellite television receivers, nor do they include employment by companies that carry out space services based on the exploitation of space assets, such as launch service providers.
Wing Sensor Improves Driver Odds During Crash
Space technology has also been adapted by Volkswagen to create safer cars. A very thin sensor strip originally developed by ESA to measure pressures on the wing of a space plane turned out to be well-suited for use in automotive crash testing.
Vibrating Spacecraft Leads to Underground Sonic Scanners
Space technology has even enabled “seeing” through solid rock, a feat that is being used in tunnel drilling applications. By analyzing the way sound waves move through rock, underlying geological features can be revealed.
Satellite Navigation and Timber Management
From 2011 to 2013, the ESA Business Incubation Center in Bavaria is hosting WASP-Logistik, which has been developing software that takes computer code originally developed for satellite navigation and applies it to timber management.
2012 – Building Space Infrastructure and Achieving Mission Objectives Within Reduced Budgets
Today, nations are under pressure to replace aging satellite infrastructure while continuing to deploy new satellite systems and achieve the related mission objectives within the constraints of tighter budgets. The situation is particularly challenging in the United States, where all government agen… Thank you for visiting The Space Report! The Authoritative Guide to Global Space…
Disinfecting Hospitals with Space Plasma
Since 2001, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics have been studying plasma, which is electrically charged gas. Based on this research, these scientists are now developing a new way for hospitals to keep patients safe from infections.