Study: Private satellite launches exceed government
July 18, 2023
By Chris Forrester
Paris-based Eurospace, which represents Europe’s space hardware manufacturers, has released its annual industry study, and says that private launches into orbit now exceed government-backed launches which includes military and scientific missions.
The one fact which jumps out of the report is that 2022 saw almost 1,000 metric tons of space hardware launched into orbit. And more than half of that total was down to Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite craft.
The previous 10 years, up to 2021, saw an average of 498 tons launched into space.
2022 was also the first year when ‘private’ missions launched more satellites into space than the world’s governments.
“In 2022 we had a situation never before seen, where the total mass launched for private customers was higher than total mass launched for public customers,” commented Eurospace MD Pierre Lionnet, “The growth in the [private sector] is 100 percent linked to the activity of Starlink, deploying an incredible amount of mass in recent years. In 2022, of the almost 1,000 tonnes launched worldwide, more than 500 tonnes were Starlink.”
Eurospace found that the costs of each launch – in terms of kilogrammes carried – had fallen slightly to overall about $27,000 per kilogram. However, for the larger geostationary communications satellites costs are nearer $19,000 per kilo.
But Eurospace says that these slightly lower launch costs are not the reason for extra business.
“You buy a satellite and then you look for launch,” Lionnet said. “You don’t decide to buy a satellite because the price of launch is low.”