Analyst Report News

Government space budgets hit record $92bn in 2021: Euroconsult

According to the report, the government space budget driven by space exploration and militarization will reach $1tn over the decade.

Despite a year of uncertainty, the space sector has received record government investment totalling more than $92bn, an 8% increase compared to 2020, according to the Euroconsult’s Government Space Programmes report for 2021.

Civilian space budgets, totalling $53bn in 2021, continue to receive more funding than defence space programmes, at 58% of total spending, though the share going to defence, $39bn in 2021, is increasing. Geopolitical tensions, increasing rivalry between leading space powers, and the value of space as the ultimate high ground drive the militarization of space trend, with leaders increasing their investments in defence space assets and technologies.

The highlight of this year’s findings is a continued, even accelerated, volume of governmental investment in the space sector, driven by two major drivers: ambitious space exploration programmes by leading space countries, and rivalries driving the militarization of space.

The report takes a close look at the surge of public funding intended to shore up the space industry against the economic repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic. It provides details on national space programmes’ spending priorities as well as two potential 10-year forecast scenarios, digested into negative and optimistic models.

For only the second year in the history of this report, Government Space Programmes is now available on Euroconsult’s digital platform. Premium users can now sift through the thousands of data points included in the entire database to create customised datasets tailored to their specific needs. Government Space Programmes boasts 89 country profiles in exhaustive detail, including analysis on policy & strategic objectives, Governance tables and organigrammes, Space Expenditures, Civil Space Programmes, Defense & Security Space Programmes, Missions Road Maps, and more.

In addition to this data granularity, Government Space Programmes sets the industry benchmark for useability and transparency, with features appealing to government, industrial, and satellite operator readers in particular. Access to Euroconsult’s extensive database provides customers with an exclusive look “behind the curtain” with thousands of data points for annual space budgets from 1990 to 2030. Detailed Country Fact Sheets provide key, high-level take-aways, providing key information on national space programmes quickly and easily. These include total 2021 space budgets with five-year CAGR, top three applications, space spending per capita and as a % of GDP as well as select high-profile missions and satellites.

New in this year’s edition, the report forecast, its foremost feature, has now been extended to 2030. In addition, country pages on the digital platform further implement ease of use functionalities by linking directly to official online resources for government space policies, strategies, budgets and legislation. Finally, the report includes more detailed governance organigrammes, illustrating the relationships between government bodies and institutions, to help readers navigate complex decision-making processes and better understand the policy-making landscapes and players.