The new European space age

摘要

The space value chain comprises four main sectors: space manufacturing, launchers, space operations and added value services. This article discusses the first three of these, although the size of the last category outweighs the first three by a considerable degree2. The European space industry contributes about ten per cent of the total European aerospace (aviation, missiles and space) effort. Although the occasional space 'spectacular' captures the headlines - usually an interesting piece of satellite exploration - the importance of this high value sector is often hidden by Airbus versus Boeing stories, or the highly charged politics of European defence aerospace.