According to a new report by Strategic Defence Intelligence (SDI), the value of the global military satellite market is expected increase by over 70% in value terms over the next ten years. SDI expects the global military satellite market to grow from $5.7 billion in 2015 to $9.7 billion in 2025. The Global expenditure on military satellites will accumulate to $94.3 billion over the next ten years. The intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) satellites will lead the market with a shre of 36% followed by communications (32%) and navigational (31%) satellites.
Many existing ISR satellites are about to reach the end of their operational life cycle, which means that leading defence spenders need to replace these satellites in the next five to ten years. These Satellites are also an alternative to expensive UAVs or reconnaissance aircraft, which is also driving growth.
US to stay leading global military satellite market
According to SDI, the US will continue to dominate the global military satellite market, occupying 41% of the global market share with cumulative spending of $38.4 billion during the next decade. “The increasing efforts of the US Department of Defense to reorient military forces towards network-centric warfare is driving expenditure,” says Bharathi Bajaj, analyst at SDI. “The US is also trying to counter growing investments by countries such as Russia and China in the military satellite sector.” Prominent programmes boosting investments include the satellite bandwidth for the UAVs, Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) and MILSATCOM programmes.
Microsatellites to attract investment in the future
The report also finds that manufacturers are focusing on developing cheaper alternatives such as microsatellites to counter the global defence budget cuts. “Microsatellites are faster to design, develop and launch using commercial off the shelf technology (COTS), although their reliability and longevity are yet to be proven,” says Bajaj. Countries such as the US, Russia, Israel, Japan, Brazil and China are among those investing significantly in microsatellites.
Download The Global Military Satellite Market 2015–2025.
