The global space economy is growing like bathtub animals

Good news for those on the job hunt: the space industry is probably hiring. According to a new report from the Space Foundation, a leading space nonprofit, the global space economy is expected to grow 41% over the next five years to reach ~$770 billion.

Space companies exist in two main areas:

• Infrastructure and support for activities in space: This section accounts for around one-third of the overall industry, and includes things like ground stations used for satellite communications, Bloomberg reports.
• Space-based products: The remaining two-thirds of industry spend belongs in this category, which mostly comprises satellite-based products. The single biggest business is the sale of position, navigation, and timing (PNT) satellite data; it makes up 39% of all commercial revenue.

📈👀 Looking ahead… A large part of the industry’s future growth is expected to be driven by government spending on space programs, which increased 8% last year to a combined $119 billion. The biggest spender is the US, accounting for ~60% of overall gov’t outflow, followed by China (14%), and the European Space Agency (5%).