A recent Forecast International study projects that an estimated 682 expendable launch vehicles (ELVs) of various types will be produced throughout the next decade to meet global demand. The study, “The World Market for Expendable Launch Vehicles: 2006-2015,” estimates the value of the ELV market throughout the next 10 years to reach approximately $46 billion.

Forecast International’s analysis of world-wide satellite programs indicates that the production of commercial, civil, military and science satellites will total more than 800 by the end of 2015.

“Taken together, European, Russian, Ukrainian, and U.S. launchers will account for some 78 percent of the total ELV market through 2015,” said John Edwards, Forecast International’s space systems analyst and author of the study. The remaining 22 percent will be approximately split between China Great Wall Industry, Hindustan Aeronautics, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries; their respective systems – Long March, PSLV and GSLV, and H-2A – are earmarked primarily for domestic payloads.