How big of a business is the commercial space launch industry?
In 2001, launch revenues around the world totaled nearly $1.5 billion (in U.S. dollars). In recent years, revenues have exceeded $2 billion. Annual revenues depend on the number and types of vehicles launched each year. An AST study of launches in 1999 revealed that the U.S. commercial space transportation industry and the industries it enabled, including satellite manufacturing and services, was responsible for generating nearly $62 billion in economicactivityin the United States. That level is likely to grow in the future as new applications dependent on commercial space transportation emerge.
