Space Situational Awareness Market Growth Forecast
The space situational awareness market is projected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2021 to $1.8 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 4.6%, according to a new forecast from Research and Markets.
The service segment is estimated to witness the largest share of the space situational awareness market from 2021 to 2026. The services segment of the space situational awareness market is estimated to hold the dominant market share in 2021. This is due to the increasing need for expansion of space weather services networks with additional capabilities, development of SSA tools, and the need for space surveillance and tracking for the smooth functioning of satellites. In July 2021, the Space Weather Prediction Center (US) added the WAM-IPE, its newest model, to the Space Weather Prediction Center's toolkit. This new model is focused on the part of the Earth's atmosphere where many US satellites are in orbit and could be vulnerable to energy from the sun.
In July 2021, the US Space Force Service is pursuing a deep space advanced radar concept program, also known as DARC. According to the service, the platform is a ground-based radar system designed to detect, track, and maintain custody of deep space objects 24/7. It will primarily track objects in the geosynchronous-Earth orbit, though it could also track objects in low-Earth orbit. DARC will augment the military's space surveillance network as an additional sensor with increased capacity and capability to monitor deep space objects and provide full global coverage.
The near-Earth segment is projected to lead the space situational awareness market during the forecast period. The growing demand for high-speed, low-latency communication and increased satellite and spacecraft launches in low Earth orbit are primarily driving this segment. In March 2020, a Russian-built Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket equipped with a Fregat booster was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome carrying a Glonass-M navigational satellite into medium Earth orbit. In March 2021, an undisclosed commercial customer awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin to build and deliver a payload intended to ensure space domain knowledge. The payload, equipped with an optical sensor, will be used for object detection and image capture from geosynchronous Earth orbit in support of efforts to maintain space situational awareness.
The commercial segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, driven by investments from private players in space research and satellite communication services, the need for real-time data on mission-related debris and space traffic assessment, and the need to monitor the structural integrity of nuclear power stations.
North America is expected to lead the market from 2021 to 2026. The US is a lucrative market for Space situational awareness in the North American region. The US government has taken various initiatives to encourage the growth of the space situational awareness market. For instance, space situational awareness programs conducted by the US government focus on intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, environmental monitoring, and command & control. Since the 1960s, the US military has had significant SSA capabilities, largely based on the backbone of missile warning radar.
(Source: Research and Markets news release. Image from file)