SpaceWorks Commercial (a division of SpaceWorks Enterprises, Inc.) releases a new study highlighting increasing yearly demand for orbital launch services for the nanosatellite and microsatellite market. The study, entitled “Nano/Microsatellite Launch Demand Assessment 2011” is a quantitative assessment of past launches and a projection of future launch demand up to 2020. Projections indicate more than 100 nano/micro satellites will need launches in the year 2020. A presentation summarizing this assessment is available on the SpaceWorks website here.
Nano/microsatellite demand was projected through 2020 using the combination of historical launches and known future launches from the SpaceWorks Commercial Orbital Satellite Database (OSD). A subset of this database was used to analyze the nano/micro satellite market. Market projections are demand based, relying on the publicly announced plans of small satellite operators, launch vehicle providers, government agencies, etc. For this study, nano/microsatellites refer to those satellites with masses between 1 kg and 50 kg. This includes the typical definition of nanosatellites along with a subset of microsatellites.
The Nano/Microsatellite Launch Demand Assessment by SpaceWorks Commercial shows that nano/microsatellite launch demand has grown by an average of 4.38% per year since 2000, with an expected 22.5% growth per year over the next 3 years (2011-2014). SpaceWorks Commercial is currently tracking over 180 known future nano/microsatellites being developed globally.
Through the use of quantitative estimates as well as reasonable qualitative adjustments to include new programs, SpaceWorks Commercial has projected global launch demand in the nano/microsatellite market. The assessment makes these future projections according to market growth curves used in other emerging high technology industries. Projections by SpaceWorks Commercial indicate a strong increase in nano/microsatellite launch demand, with an estimated range of 100 to 142 nano/microsatellites (1-50 kg) that will need launches globally in 2020 (versus 23 in 2011).
SpaceWorks Commercial will continue to update its Orbital Satellite Database (OSD) and nano/microsatellite launch demand assessment. The firm plans for twice yearly public updates of nano/microsatellite launch demand. More detailed assessments are available for purchase for certain customers.
“The nano/microsatellite market has grown considerably with the adoption of the CubeSat standard, technology development, entrance of new developers, and furthering of applications,” stated Mr. Dominic DePasquale, Director of Washington D.C. Operations for SpaceWorks Commercial. “We offer highlights of our internal launch database for the entire community of satellite developers and launch vehicle providers. We feel it is important to put quantitative assessments on the known qualitative growth we see in this industry. We hope this becomes a resource for the nano/microsatellite community going forward.”
Study Link (SpaceWorks Commercial Nano/Microsatellite Launch Demand Assessment 2011): SpaceWorks_NanoMicrosat_Launch_22Nov2011_revA.pdf.
