An Atlas 5 rocket. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

[Via Satellite 05-20-2014] According to the newly released report by Northern Sky Research (NRS) “Satellite Manufacturing and Launch Services (SMLS), Fourth Edition,” the satellite industry ordered and launched more than 100 satellites in the past year. The total revenue generated by the industry globally in 2013 was almost $35 billion, according to NSR. The company predicts that the industry will generate around $275 billion in the next 10 years.

The report also predicts a short-term decline from a record year in 2013, but will remain relatively stable due to replacements and some extensions in Ku-band and High-Throughput Satellites (HTS). However, there are several trends that may affect growth in the coming years and could considerably change the market. These trends, predicted by the NSR report, include new propulsion types, more platforms proposed by more suppliers, multi-beam architectures becoming more common and launch services evolving toward higher masses.

As for launches, 2013 was not a great year for Geostationary (GEO) launch services, as only 18 commercial GEO satellites were launched. The report notes that an increasing number of launch providers should lead to strong competition for launch services in the next few years.

“The whole industry is shaping-up; including both satellite manufacturers and launch services providers,” said Stéphane Gounari, senior analyst at NSR and author of the report. “Market shares evolved significantly in the last few years and after years of complacency, certain players were bordering on insignificance in this important space. It now seems they will not let that happen.”