The NewSpace ecosystem business will grow more than 200% in five years

A radiography of the NewSpace ecosystem in Catalonia indicates that this segment of the space sector will register exponential growth in the next five years. So it will go from a turnover of 143 million euros in 2020 ---accumulating a growth of 78% in two years-- to the 539.4 million foreseen for 2025, 276% more.

Without taking into account the incorporation of new companies and entities into the value chain, in relative terms, the growth of turnover linked to NewSpace will be led by small entities (maximum of 49 workers) and young ones (less than ten years old).

In parallel, in five years, the ecosystem will generate value-added and knowledge-intensive employment; from the current 379 people (23% of the entire space sector) to about 1,755 employees. This strong expected increase in employment would occur thanks to the incorporation of new professionals into companies and startups and incubators. These last two groups explain 92% of the expected increase in NewSpace employment. 28% of the workers in these entities are part of technological or research centers and universities, a figure that stands at 11% in the case of the more traditional space industry (large satellites or space missions, for example), already fully consolidated in Catalonia.

The new space economy ---focused mainly on nanosatellites--- accounts for 17.8% of the entire sector dedicated to space and is an emerging activity in Catalonia that presents good growth prospects, according to the study Ecosistema del sector NewSpace a Catalunya. Radiografia i variables socioeconòmiques. The space sector as a whole had a turnover of 807 million euros in 2020, despite the pandemic context, 5.4% more than in 2019, and employed 7,571 workers.

NewSpace is a segment of the new economy that began in 2000 and represents a new use of space with small, rapidly developing satellites, and that stems from the democratization of access to space and the aerospace industry.

Currently, the Catalan NewSpace ecosystem is made up of 93 entities, of which 89 have operational headquarters in Catalonia. Specifically, there are 48 companies, 17 companies identified as emerging or incubators, 16 technology centers or university centers, and six associations or foundations. This has been the basis for the preparation of the report on which the Economic Studies Office of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce has worked, with the support of the Department of the Vice-presidency and Digital and Territorial Policies, in collaboration with the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia and the i2CAT and KIMbcn foundations.

The new space economy, mainly focused on nanosatellites, accounts for 17.8% of the entire sector dedicated to space

The field of research is one of the most prominent in this type of industry and entities, because the NewSpace ecosystem generates more patents than more traditional space companies. Specifically, the ecosystem has generated 30 patents in the last three years. The report indicates that startups and incubators are the ones that have generated a greater number of patents (21 in total), far from technology or research centers (about six) and companies (about seven). "This demonstrates the sector's high capacity to transform ideas and research into tangible results, which can contribute to boosting NewSpace spillovers on the entire Catalan productive fabric in the coming years," according to the report.