Mars Missions: The Breakdown from 1960-2021
The first attempts to reach Mars began more than 60 years ago, when the former Soviet Union launched two probes to Mars. Both failed to reach Earth orbit. The success of China’s Tianwen-1 and the United Arab Emirates’ Hope orbiter in February, along with the success of the United States’ Perseverance and Ingenuity mission, means…
Read MoreSpace Force: Mission Moves Forward as New Branch Begins Second Year
Within the last two months, the U.S. Space Force (USSF) has marked its first anniversary and secured a public affirmation from President Biden’s administration that the nation’s newest military branch will endure, allowing Space Force leadership to confidently move forward with their mission. From the outset, the U.S. Space Force had a daunting charge: Assume…
Read More2020 in Launches: Successes, Failures, and Everything in Between
Here’s a snapshot from the upcoming Q4 edition of The Space Report 2020, which will be released within the month. Major launch trends for 2020: Despite the pandemic-related halts in space operations, all countries and cooperative bodies with dedicated active orbital launch vehicles conducted launch activities in 2020. The number of launches conducted annually has…
Read MoreNASA Lunar Spending Grows as Moon Missions Near
In 2020 alone, NASA and its international partner, the European Space Agency, approved contracts with maximum values worth more than $11.5 billion for landers, crew transport, space modules and scientific equipment in preparation for the Artemis mission. By the end of 2021, nine countries expect to have landers or rovers exploring for ice and water,…
Read MoreLEO Constellation Deployments Up 477% from 2019-2020
Driven by the pace of SpaceX and OneWeb as the two companies build out their low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband constellation networks, communications satellite deployments in 2020 climbed 477% from 2019. Thousands more satellites will join SpaceX and OneWeb as these companies and their competitors carry out their plans. One LEO broadband operator is already…
Read MoreNation in Review: Germany
Nation in Review: German Space Economy German domestic space spending in 2019 increased by over 30% from 2018, reaching €1.3 billion ($1.529 billion). Contributions to ESA increased 3.6% to €944 billion ($1.097 billion) over that same period. Germany’s overall space spending has increased by 56% since 2009’s €1.45 billion ($1.7 billion) in annual spending. That…
Read MoreInterlinked mega constellations reduce user costs, achieve dramatic increase in latency speeds
Reduced costs and increased service performance are the drivers for today’s satellite internet systems. Innovation in the U.S. manufacturing and launch industries is making this possible. There is a stark difference when comparing Iridium of the 1990s to today’s Starlink. The setup cost for Iridium’s original 77 satellites, which began launching in 1997, was about…
Read MoreCommercial Space Revenue Climbs to $336.89 Billion in 2019, The Space Report 2020 Q3
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Oct. 13, 2020) — In the newest quarterly issue of The Space Report, Space Foundation announced that space investment in Q3 2020 gained strength with more than $6 billion gained through acquisitions and buyouts and private equity financing. The Space Report 2020 Q3 also includes analysis of 2019 commercial space revenue, and…
Read MoreGlobal Space Economy Grows in 2019 to $423.8 Billion, The Space Report 2020 Q2 Analysis Shows
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 28, 2020) — The global space economy in 2019 grew more than $9 billion over the previous year, reaching $423.8 billion, according to new findings published by Space Foundation’s 2020 second quarter issue of The Space Report. The growth represents a 2.2% increase from the 2018 global space economy, which was…
Read MoreAs Space Debris Piles Up and Satellite Deployments Grow, Calls for Space Tracking Mount
Published in the May 2020 edition of SatMagazine By Lesley Conn Sr. Mgr. Research & Analysis Space Foundation Relative to the vastness of space, the near collision was frighteningly close. On Jan. 29, 2020, a decommissioned U.S. space telescope and a U.S. experimental payload were hurtling toward each other over Pittsburgh. The closer they drew,…
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