Emerging Space Program Investments Reach $1.8 Billion in 2013

Twenty-seven countries have begun investing this year in space programs estimated to be valued at $1.8 billion, according to an executive brief, Trends & Prospects for Emerging Space Programs, published by Euroconsult, a Paris-based consulting firm. The report includes projects, development models, lessons learned and perspectives of countries starting their first or second generation satellite programs. Investments are more than two times what they were in the company’s 2007 estimate. Of the 29 countries assessed in the report, 27 have begun investing in a space program, including $1.4 billion in satellite procurement. Seventeen of those countries have reported funding for a satellite communications program for a combined value of $950 million, and 18 countries are undertaking an Earth observation program with associated budgets of more than $500 million by 2015.