Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

How can we measure the space economy?

Almost 80 countries have a satellite in orbit. Yet even though the services derived from space activities are increasingly important to society, international comparability of space economy statistics remains limited. The newly revised Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Handbook on Measuring the Space Economy aims to encourage and facilitate data collection among both incumbents and new actors.

This second edition of the Handbook on Measuring the Space Economy responds to the needs of policymakers from multiple economic sectors that are reflecting on such changes in their measurement strategies.

Evolving landscape

It takes account of the evolving landscape of space activities, technologies and user needs surrounding two core observations:

SpaceX Falcon 9 liftoff.
Credit: SpaceX

• Increasingly, a wide diversity of actors is involved in space activities: Government actors more than ever pursue strategic objectives in the space economy in tandem with commercial actors. A better tracking of the effects of public and private expenditure in the space economy is required if the overall impact of such trends is to be assessed.
• Studying the economics of space activities has become professionalized but measuring the space economy remains a challenge: The range of space activities has evolved significantly over the past ten years. Critical infrastructures such as telecommunications and an increasing number of commercial digital applications now depend heavily on space capabilities. In advanced economies, the space economy is becoming more complex and the line between space and non-space activities is increasingly difficult to assess.

Chapter call outs

The Handbook is structured according to the following chapters:

Chapter 1: Introducing the OECD Handbook on Measuring the Space Economy

Chapter 2: Progress in concepts, definitions and measurement of the space economy

Chapter 3: Monitoring the evolving cast of space actors

Chapter 4: Using industry surveys to better understand the space economy

Chapter 5: Strengthening assessment of the impacts of the space economy.

To access the Handbook, go to:

https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/oecd-handbook-on-measuring-the-space-economy-2nd-edition_8bfef437-en