Thu, Nov 29, 2018
NSR Anticipates Strong Growth In Smallsat Market Driven By Constellations, Despite Numerous Challenges
The recently-released NSR Small Satellite Markets, 5th Edition (SSM5) forecasts the market to yield $37 billion in cumulative revenues from smallsat manufacturing and launch services by 2027, with 6,500 smallsats set to launch during this time. Constellations will be the dominating factor of this growth, making up over 70% of the total market. While growth is anticipated across all applications, communications will drive the largest share of revenues, with some of the largest constellations planned in this segment.
“New business models are opening new revenue streams and opportunities in the small satellite market,” notes NSR’s Senior Analyst, Carolyn Belle. “The relative simplicity, and the associated low-cost architecture, are enabling easier access to the space industry. By lowering the barriers to entry, this market is not only impacting the commercial industry, but it’s becoming a critical element of STEM education,” Belle adds. Despite a 30% decline in launch rates in 2018, small satellites are expected to regain growth over the next decade as new companies in different tiers of both value and supply chains enter the market and unlock the promised value and solve current bottlenecks.
Despite the overall demand growth, funding remains one of the biggest challenges for the small satellite market. Investors are more cautious about the durability of this architecture. “While a growing market, the small satellite industry does present highly challenging business cases. From LEO constellations to dedicated launchers, long-term sustainability remains one of the biggest concerns,” commented Shagun Sachdeva, NSR Analyst and co-author.
Sachdev adds, “As the technology develops and small satellites grow in applicability, there will be a shift towards hybrid architectures - either through M&As or strategic alliances.” NSR considers the small satellite business model capable of challenging the status quo by bringing in new ideas and leveraging existing assets – both in space and on the ground – to derive more performance from established architectures.
(Source: NSR news release)
More News
Pilot Also Reported That Due To A Fuel Leak, The Auxiliary Fuel Tanks Were Not Used On June 4, 2025, at 13:41 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-23, N2109P, was substantially damage>[...]
From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Reflections on War’s Collective Lessons and Cyclical Nature The exigencies of war ought be colorblind. Inane social-constructs the likes of racis>[...]
Pilot Reported That He Was Unfamiliar With The Single Seat Amateur-Built Airplane And His Intent Was To Perform High-Speed Taxi Testing Analysis: The pilot reported that he was unf>[...]
From 2023 (YouTube Edition): First Kits to Ship October 2023 Having formerly resurrected the storied shape of the Ryan ST—in effigy, anyway—Montrose, Colorado-based Tim>[...]
Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) [ICAO] Area navigation based on performance requirements for aircraft operating along an ATS route, on an instrument approach procedure or in a d>[...]
NTSB Prelim: Piper PA-23
See All