Military satellite market to increase by over 70%
Above:
Launch of the first Skynet satellite, Skynet 1A, by Delta rocket in 1969 from Cape Canaveral.Skynet is a family of military communications satellites, now operated by Astrium Services on behalf of the UK MoD, providing strategic comms to the three branches of the British Armed Forces and to NATO forces engaged on coalition tasks.
Courtesy NASA
SDI expects the global military satellite market to grow from $5.7 billion in 2015 to $9.7 billion in 2025 – an increase of over 70% in value terms. Global expenditure on military satellites will accumulate to $94.3 billion over the next 10 years. With a share of 36%, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) satellites will lead the market, followed by communications (32%) and navigational (31%) satellites. “Many existing ISR satellites are about to reach the end of their operational life cycle, meaning that leading defence spenders need to replace these satellites in the next five to 10 years. Moreover, satellites are an alternative to expensive UAVs or reconnaissance aircraft, which is also driving growth,” says Bharathi Bajaj, analyst at SDI.
According to SDI, the US will continue to dominate the global military satellite market, occupying 41% of the global market share with cumulative spending of $38.4 billion during the next decade. “The increasing efforts of the US Department of Defense to reorient military forces towards network-centric warfare is driving expenditure,” says Bajaj. “The US is also trying to counter growing investments by countries such as Russia and China in the military satellite sector.” Prominent programmes boosting investments include the satellite bandwidth for the UAVs, Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) and MILSATCOM programmes.
The report also finds that manufacturers are focusing on developing cheaper alternatives such as microsatellites to counter the global defence budget cuts. “Microsatellites are faster to design, develop and launch using commercial off the shelf technology (COTS), although their reliability and longevity are yet to be proven,” says Bajaj. Countries such as the US, Russia, Israel, Japan, Brazil and China are among those investing significantly in microsatellites.