The number of satellites in space is expected to increase from 5,500 up to 100,000 by 2030. By 2040, space-based connectivity is forecasted to account for more than 50% of the global space economy’s growth, fueled by the increasing demand for bandwidth from consumers and businesses, the growth of the Industrial Internet of Things in various industries, the limited range of high-speed wireless networks like 5G, the fact that more than half of the world lacks access to broadband, and the decreasing cost of launching and building satellites. Satellite constellations offer a cost-effective solution for providing high-quality, ubiquitous service to everyone everywhere.
The commercial Earth observation data and services market alone is expected to grow from €3.8 billion to €6.6 billion by 2029, driven by the emergence of cost-effective satellite constellations, the speed of data delivery, and overall high resilience. With more than half of global GDP being exposed to risks due to moderate to high dependence on nature and its effects, the transition towards a sustainable future call for advanced capacity, tools, and services to monitor, analyze, predict the state and evolution of soil, air, water, and weather, and to observe greenhouse gas emissions and their impacts.