Historic Number of Launches Powers Commercial Satellite Industry Growth
Satellite Industry Association Releases the 28th Annual State of the Satellite Industry Report
The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) today announced the release of its 28th annual State of the Satellite Industry Report (SSIR), a global summary of the commercial satellite industry. During 2024, the industry continued to grow at an unprecedented rate as a record number of 259 launches deployed a historic 2,172 tons and 2,695 satellites into Earth orbit. At the end of 2024, a total of 11,539 satellites were operating in Earth orbit compared with just 3,371 in 2020.
“The commercial satellite industry’s record growth and overall momentum continued in 2024 with a historic number of launches deploying nearly 2700 satellites into orbit.”
Tom Stroup, SAI
Other key takeaways from the 2025 Report:
During 2024, the overall global space economy grew by 4 percent, generating revenue of $415 billion. The commercial satellite industry continued to be dominant, increasing to $293 billion and accounting for 71 percent of the world’s space business.
Satellite Manufacturing – Global satellite manufacturing revenues grew to $20 billion in 2024, an increase of 17 percent over 2023. During the year, U.S. firms earned 69% of global manufacturing revenues.
Launch Services – A total of 259 launches (including 224 commercially procured) were conducted in 2024 and worldwide commercial launch revenues increased to $9.3 billion, an increase of 30 percent compared with 2023.
Satellite Services – Satellite broadband revenue increased by 29 percent while subscriptions increased by 46 percent during 2024. Combined with a 9 percent increase in remote sensing revenues, satellite services revenue totaled $108.3 billion during 2024.
Satellite Ground Segment – Continued growth in global navigation satellite services (GNSS) and network equipment helped generate revenue of more than $155.3 billion in 2024, an increase of 3 percent over the previous year.
Space Sustainability Activities - Commercial satellite sustainability activities generated significant revenue during the year, and this accounted for approximately $350 million in revenue during 2024, an estimated increase of nearly 17 percent.
“The commercial satellite industry’s record growth and overall momentum continued in 2024 with a historic number of launches deploying nearly 2700 satellites into orbit,” said Tom Stroup, president of the Satellite Industry Association. “That means there are more than ten thousand additional satellites operating in orbit compared to less than a decade ago - providing vital services to hundreds of millions of Americans and billions of consumers around the globe each day.”
“U.S. domination of the industry continued in 2024. American companies owned 65 percent market share of launch revenue, built 83 percent of the commercial satellites launched during the year and accounted for 69 percent of the global manufacturing revenue," Stroup said. "At the end of 2024, American companies wholly or partially operated more than 70 percent of the total number of satellites circling the globe. SIA is proud to continue to represent and advocate on behalf of the domestic satellite industry and we look forward to continuing to work with U.S lawmakers and regulators to help ensure America’s continued domination of the global space economy.”
For more than a quarter of a century, SIA has published the leading analysis of the satellite industry’s economic performance. Produced by BryceTech, the 2025 SSIR derives from proprietary surveys of satellite companies, in-depth public information, and independent analysis, combined to assess the performance of sectors including satellite services, manufacturing, ground equipment and launch services.