EO satellite launch market to top $25B over the period 2020-2029, with 2,166 satellites to be launched
Paris, Washington D.C., Montreal, Yokohama, 2 December 2020 – In a new research titled, “Earth Observation Satellite Systems Market”, Euroconsult, the world’s leading authority on space and satellite-based application markets, forecasts that global demand for new Earth observation (EO) satellite systems this decade will result in 2,166 satellites being launched, which is expected to generate close to $83.5 billion in manufacturing revenues. Euroconsult also projects corresponding EO satellite launch revenues to be close to $25 billion for the next decade.
Despite the impact of COVID-19, which has delayed a number of launch campaigns, these projections represent a significant supply increase to the global EO market. The increase is expected to come from both government and commercial operators as new countries and companies develop solutions and as existing EO service providers expand their satellite portfolios. Euroconsult has identified more than 50 new entrants that have announced intentions to develop EO constellations representing nearly 1,800 smallsats, the majority being under 50kg.
Governments have been the primary investors in EO satellites, accounting for 86 percent of the satellites launched from 2010 to 2019. These include research and development programs, and dual-use for both defense and civil programs. Governments also accounted for more than 90 percent of the spending on EO satellite manufacturing. The U.S. remains by far the largest EO customer and investor with funds channeled through NASA and NOAA budgets.
“While government investment in EO programs continues to grow, we are also seeing an increasing number of new market entrants,” said Alexis Conte, Editor of the research and Senior Consultant at Euroconsult. “2019 was a record year for fundraising for commercial systems. The main driver was for missions other than optical, and mostly for companies outside the U.S. In general, new entrants plan to provide low-cost constellations for low-cost and high-revisit data for use in building change detection analytics.”
In 2019, more than $800 million was invested in commercial EO companies, a 40 percent increase over the previous year. Beyond optical-multispectral, the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellations projects are the most mature to address the commercial market. Commercial hyperspectral payloads are now in the testing phase.
About the research
First published in 2013, this year’s edition of the study of Satellite-Based Earth Observation Market Prospects has evolved into two separate studies to specifically address the upstream and downstream parts of the value chain. With greater detail than previous editions, both Earth Observation Data & Services and Earth Observation Satellite Systems include forecasts to 2029.
An essential tool for satellite manufacturers, operators, investors, and other stakeholders who need to understand what the current and future demand dynamics are for EO upstream markets, the “Earth Observation Satellite Systems Market” research includes overviews of both the manufacturing and launch markets and reviews demand dynamics and the policy and regulation drivers for the development of EO programs. It includes an overview of the entire ecosystem, addresses the impact of COVID-19 and profiles key players.
It breaks the market down by region, mass and payload type, including optical, multispectral, hyperspectral and SAR. It also provides an assessment of the commercial and government markets, including details on both civil and defense programs and includes a discussion of other Earth observation platforms including high altitude platforms and unmanned aerial vehicles. The research is now available for download from the Euroconsult store.
