[Satellite TODAY Insider 08-26-11] An estimated 1,145 satellites will be built for launch between 2011 and 2020 — a 51 percent increase in the number of satellites built in the previous decade, representing $196 billion in worldwide satellite revenues, according to a Euroconsult world market survey issued Aug. 25

   Approximately 70 percent of this total revenue will be attributed to demand in the government market, said Euroconsult Space Director and Report Editor Rachel Villain, who added that the government sector demand will likely remain concentrated in a handful of countries. “The government market is worth more than double the commercial market, but is largely closed to non-domestic manufacturers. However, export opportunities for manufacturers exist with governments in countries with no space industry.”

   Villain’s research shows that 777 satellites will be launched by government agencies from 50 countries, however, more than 80 percent of those satellites will come from the United States, Russia, the European countries, Japan, China and India. Villain said the primary reason for this concentration was the fact that established space countries are replacing systems that have already been operational, in addition to launching new satellites, while emerging space powers are only building and launching new systems that are not yet at the stage of replacing existing satellites.

   “Over two-thirds of the government satellites to be built for launch in the coming decade are for civilian and dual-use and dedicated military satellites remain concentrated in a limited number of countries such as the United States, Europe, Russia, China, Japan and Israel,” Villain wrote in the report. “Defense budget constraints are leading to more public-private partnerships and government payloads hosted on commercial satellites. An even more limited number of countries will launch space surveillance and missile defense satellite systems to be used in combination with ground networks.”

   The Euroconsult report expects more than 200 government Earth observation satellites to be built for launch in the decade, making it the largest civilian government satellite application. Villain forecasts that 203 commercial communications satellites, with a market value of $50 billion, will be launched into the GEO arc during the next 10 years and that commercial satellite services outside the geostationary orbit will get a boost during the next decade with a total of 165 satellites built for Medium and Low Earth Orbits (MEO and LEO).

   “Some of these satellites were recorded in satellite manufacturers’ order books during the flurry of ordering activity over the past five years. Three quarters will be communications satellites to replace the first LEO generation satellites and for O3b’s first- generation system,” said Villain. “About 40 satellites will be launched into LEO for commercial optical and radar imagery. The market value for manufacturing and launch of these 165 satellites will be one-fifth the figure for GEO comsat satellites. This is largely because they are smaller and launched at lower altitudes.”