▣ DATA BRIEF · SPACE ECONOMY
☀ Key Stats
◆ Global space-related revenues reached an estimated $550 billion to $600 billion in 2025, depending on how the sector is defined.
◆ That puts the space economy near the scale of the global semiconductor industry, which the OECD values at about $620 billion in 2024.
◆ More than 14,000 operational satellites were orbiting Earth at the end of 2025, rising to almost 15,000 by mid-2026.
◆ A record 329 space launches carried around 4,900 objects into space during 2025.
◆ U.S. organizations operated 76% of the world’s active satellites at the end of 2025.
◆ Private operators accounted for 88% of satellites launched in 2025, up from 23% in 2010.
◆ Telecommunications satellites represented 82% of satellites launched during the year.
◆ U.S. space activity generated $142.5 billion of GDP, $240.9 billion in gross output and 373,000 private-sector jobs in 2023.
◆ OECD civilian government space budgets increased 15% between 2022 and 2025, reaching $46.4 billion.
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The global space economy generated an estimated $550 billion to $600 billion in revenues in 2025, bringing the sector close to the scale of the semiconductor industry, according to a new OECD report on the space economy.
The comparison comes as commercial satellite activity reaches unprecedented levels: almost 15,000 operational satellites were orbiting Earth by mid-2026, while private companies accounted for most satellites launched the previous year.
The OECD puts the semiconductor industry’s 2024 value at approximately $620 billion. Updated industry figures place global semiconductor sales at $630.5 billion, making the comparison approximate rather than an exact like-for-like measure.
◎ HEADLINE NUMBER
Up to $600B
Estimated global space-related revenues in 2025, compared with an approximately $620 billion semiconductor industry benchmark used by the OECD.
The space economy is now measured in hundreds of billions of dollars
Estimates of the industry’s size differ because organizations do not all define the space economy in the same way.
The OECD says available estimates converge around a broad range of $550 billion to $600 billion in annual revenues.
One estimate cited by the report puts commercial space revenues at $544.3 billion, representing 13% growth, while a European Space Agency estimate values the broader economy at roughly €564 billion.
Those measures include activities ranging from rockets and satellites to communications, navigation, earth observation and services built on space-derived data.
The comparison with semiconductors illustrates how far space has moved beyond a small aerospace niche.
Semiconductor industry data put global chip sales at $630.5 billion in 2024, after an updated year-end calculation.
↳ ORBITAL SCALE · ALMOST 15,000 ACTIVE SATELLITES
Satellite activity reached record levels in 2025
The commercial expansion is visible in orbit.
There were 329 launches in 2025, carrying approximately 4,900 objects into space.
By the end of that year, more than 14,000 active operational satellites were circling Earth in low, medium and geostationary orbits.
The total climbed to almost 15,000 by mid-2026.
◎ SPACE ACTIVITY IN 2025
329 launches
~4,900 objects launched
>14,000 operational satellites by year-end
Participation has spread geographically as launch costs have fallen and smaller satellites have become easier to deploy.
By 2025, 109 countries had successfully placed at least one satellite into orbit, although the ability to launch those satellites remained concentrated among a much smaller group.
The United States operated 76% of active satellites
U.S. organizations operated 76% of the world’s active satellites at the end of 2025, driven heavily by large broadband constellations.
The United States also recorded 181 orbital launch attempts during 2025, compared with 92 from China and eight from Europe.
The concentration is even greater at the company level.
The OECD estimates that a single operator accounted for around 60% of all active satellites, illustrating how rapidly large low-earth-orbit constellations have changed the ownership structure of space infrastructure.
SpaceX had also completed more than 600 Falcon 9 booster recoveries by early 2026, a sign of how reusable launch systems have altered the economics of getting equipment into orbit.
↳ COMMERCIALISATION · PRIVATE OPERATORS DOMINATE NEW SATELLITES
Private operators accounted for 88% of satellites launched
The ownership of new spacecraft has shifted sharply toward private companies.
Private operators accounted for 88% of satellites launched in 2025, up from just 23% in 2010.
Telecommunications was the dominant use, accounting for 82% of satellites launched in 2025.
That growth largely reflects broadband constellations and rising demand for satellite connectivity, including direct-to-device services and coverage in remote areas.
Satellite broadband still represented only about 0.7% of fixed broadband subscriptions across OECD countries in 2023, leaving substantial room for the market to grow while remaining a relatively small part of overall broadband access.
More than 2 million satellites appear in future constellation plans
The pipeline could be vastly larger than today’s orbital population.
Announced projects and regulatory filings cover more than 2 million possible satellites over the next decade, primarily for broadband, direct-to-device communications, data processing and other connectivity services.
That figure should not be interpreted as a forecast that two million satellites will actually reach orbit.
The OECD warns that regulatory filings can be speculative, may be used to reserve frequencies or orbital resources, and frequently are never implemented in full.
Important distinction: The 2 million figure describes announced projects and regulatory filings, not authorised launches or an OECD forecast. The report says only a fraction of the proposed satellites is likely to be deployed.
The U.S. space sector generated $142.5 billion of GDP
National economic accounts are beginning to show how space activity contributes directly to individual economies.
In the United States, harmonised accounts put the sector’s contribution at $142.5 billion of GDP in 2023, equivalent to about 0.5% of total U.S. GDP.
The sector generated $240.9 billion in gross output and supported approximately 373,000 private-sector jobs.
Italy, the second country highlighted by the OECD as having developed comparable accounts, recorded space activities equivalent to 0.14% of GDP, around €8 billion in output and more than 23,000 jobs.
Space systems support economic activity far beyond the industry itself
The direct GDP contribution captures only part of the economy’s reliance on space infrastructure.
The OECD says space-based systems support more than half of the most critical infrastructures and services across its member countries, including transport, communications, energy and food supply.
In the United Kingdom, satellite-enabled services are estimated to support around 18% of GDP.
Satellites also supply more than 90% of the observations assimilated into weather-forecasting systems, while approximately 70% of data from active earth-observation missions is openly available.
Government spending and private capital are both increasing
Commercial expansion has not displaced governments from the space economy.
OECD civilian government space budgets rose from $40.5 billion in 2022 to $46.4 billion in 2025, an increase of about 15%.
Private investment, including venture capital, reached an estimated $11 billion to $13 billion in 2025, the highest level since 2021.
A sample of 40 recently listed space companies raised more than $100 billion through new shares and bond issuance over the past decade.
Rapid growth is also creating an orbital debris problem
The expansion of commercial space activity comes with growing congestion and collision risks.
Around 45,860 debris objects are regularly tracked, while models estimate another 140 million objects between 1 millimetre and 1 centimetre that are generally too small to track operationally.
Starlink satellites performed more than 300,000 collision-avoidance manoeuvres in 2025, up from around 200,000 a year earlier.
The OECD also cites simulations suggesting that collisions could eventually make debris self-generating in some heavily used orbital regions even without additional launches.
✦ Why it matters ✦
A space economy approaching $600 billion is no longer defined mainly by government exploration programs.
Private satellite networks now provide communications, navigation and data services that increasingly feed into transportation, agriculture, finance, weather forecasting and critical infrastructure.
The scale comparison with semiconductors is useful because both sectors increasingly sit underneath a much larger range of everyday economic activity.
But expansion also concentrates economic and strategic dependence in a relatively small number of countries, companies, orbital regions and supply chains.
That means the next phase of the space economy will involve not only generating revenue and launching satellites, but also managing congestion, debris, cybersecurity, spectrum and access to infrastructure that other parts of the economy increasingly rely on.
ⓘ How to read the findings
The source is the OECD report The Space Economy at a Glance 2026, published on September 9, 2026. It combines OECD indicators with data from national agencies, international organisations and other sector sources.
The headline uses the top of the OECD’s estimated $550 billion to $600 billion range. The report explicitly says estimates differ according to the scope, coverage and methodology used to define the space economy.
The semiconductor comparison is approximate. The OECD uses a value of about $620 billion in 2024, while the Semiconductor Industry Association’s updated year-end total is $630.5 billion.
The report distinguishes between the space industry’s direct economic footprint and the much broader economic activity supported by satellite-enabled services. The two should not be added together.
The U.S. figures of $142.5 billion in GDP, $240.9 billion in gross output and 373,000 jobs refer to 2023 rather than 2025 because harmonised national space accounts are available with a lag.
The 2 million possible future satellites figure comes from announced projects and regulatory filings. The OECD warns that many filings are speculative or may be only partly implemented and says only a fraction is likely to be deployed.
The estimate that one operator controls roughly 60% of active satellites reflects the rapid growth of large broadband constellations. It does not mean that one company controls 60% of space-industry revenue or the wider space economy.
The orbital-debris estimates combine tracked objects with modelled populations of smaller debris. Most objects at the smallest sizes cannot be individually monitored from the ground.
