Space And The Economy

The global recession has clearly had a devastating effect on some national economies and many industries, but, so far. the aerospace industry has escaped majpr harm. The communication satellite industry, which constitutes a large chunk of private spending in space, made a small profit in 2008. NewSpace companies, so far, seem to be sticking to their projections.

On the other hand, most money spent on space is spent by governments, and at some point overall government spending will presumably have to be cut. The major aerospace corporations are wary. President Obama, for example, has called for reforming Pentagon procurement procedures, saying billions of dollars could be saved; that money, of course, now largely goes into corporate coffers. Further, the President has argued military spending should be cut, and some weapon systems eliminated. That would be a real blow to the major defense contractors. He has also yet to make a decision about NASA programs.

Likely, projects already underway, like ISS and planetary missions already funded, will be maintained, but the pace of new initiatives may be in doubt.