Space Report 2021 Q4 Reflects On Record-Breaking Year in Space
Space Foundation, a nonprofit advocate organization founded in 1983 for the global space ecosystem, has released “The Space Report 2021 Q4,” which looks back at the historic level of launch activity that took place globally last year and breaks down orbital launch attempts by each spacefaring nation.
“The space ecosystem has been buzzing with excitement about an emergent space renaissance for several years."
Space Foundation CEO Tom Zelibor.
“The space ecosystem has been buzzing with excitement about an emergent space renaissance for several years," said Space Foundation CEO Tom Zelibor. "This edition unequivocally validates that we have reached a new high point. I always say, ‘There is no better time to be a part of the space economy,’ and with record-breaking growth in 2021 and so many promising new initiatives already underway in 2022, that has never been a truer statement.”
The Space Report 2021 Q4 edition reviews the activity of the eight nations that lifted a record-setting number of launch vehicles last year. This global effort surpassed a level of launch activity not seen since 1967, at the peak of the space race era. Not only did the count of 2021 launch attempts make history, but so did the launch success rate, with a record breaking 134 successful launches.
Commercial launch activity in the United States continued to flourish, claiming the largest percentage of commercial launches with 32 in 2021 — more than three times the commercial launches by the next-leading nations. Meanwhile, government-private partnerships were also initiated to begin the development of eight new space stations, spurred by an interest in expanding microgravity research.
Other key research findings from Q4:
Payload deployments jumped 29% compared with 2020, driven largely by the communication activity of SpaceX’s Starlink and OneWeb constellations.
The volume of financing transactions in the space and satellite sector has grown 61% since 2019, fueled by dozens of investors injecting billions of dollars, according to analysis by Quilty Analytics.
In space tourism, 14 civilians experienced space travel in 2021, double the number from all prior years combined.
Also covered is the growing appeal of mineral-rich asteroids in 2021, which sparked increased efforts to develop asteroid mining capabilities. The Q4 report features leading industry experts’ analyses into how asteroid mining will likely unfold and the approaches that can be taken to ensure equitable distribution of any realized assets.
World leaders have a renewed focus on Earth’s changing climate and related Earth observation capabilities. The Q4 report spotlights a new commercial satellite venture that’s set to reach orbit in 2022, promising capabilities to better monitor increasingly unpredictable weather events and give scientists a clearer picture of climate change progress indicators.
(Source: The Space Foundation news release)