The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis and Office of Space Commerce are working to establish a framework of the U.S. space industry, Space News reported Thursday.
BEA said in an article published on the Survey of Current Business journal that the initiative seeks to create a Space Economy Satellite Account that will provide insight into “the space economy’s contribution to current-dollar gross domestic product” as well as employment.
The department plans to prepare a prototype of the account by late 2020.
“We are working really closely with a number of bureaus about really analyzing what the value is,” said Patrick Sullivan, deputy director of the Office of Space Commerce, during a prior industry event. “If it’s going to help advance a policy perspective, we’d love to either develop or get the data from the private sector.”
The Satellite Industry Association said in its May 2019 report that it estimates the global space economy to reach $360 billion, while The Space Foundation stated in its July 2019 report that the industry has accounted for $415 billion in 2018.
