Leading Government Space Programs Under Strong Budget Pressure
Paris and Montreal – Euroconsult, the leading international research and analysis firm specialized in the space sector, today announced that global budgets for space programs have reached a plateau of roughly $70 billion, confirming a slowdown in expansion experienced by the space industry for the last 10 years. According to Euroconsult's new report "Profiles of Government Space Programs: Analysis of 60 Countries & Agencies," Space programs received a short-term boost in recent years from several governments to counter the economic crisis. However, they must now undergo even more stringent budget constraints exemplified by the European public debt crisis and the U.S. Budget Control Act of 2011. In addition, the decrease of global funding for space programs is also the consequence of the inherently cyclical nature of public investment in certain space applications and programs, particularly when related to the procurement of operational systems. New leading and emerging space programs in Asia, Latin America and Middle East/Africa will represent the first budget growth driver confirming a changing environment for the global space sector.