According to the annual assessment report of the Space Foundation, a no-profit US advocate organization monitoring the global space ecosystem, the world space economy hit $570 billion in 2023, a 7.4% increase over 2022, with worldwide military space spending “skyrocketing” 18%, reaching $57 billion.

The assessment covered 54 nations and international organizations looking at 11 different space sectors. Also, it reports that “the majority (80%) of Defense spending comes from the United States, but other nations, including Japan and Poland, increased space Defense spending sharply last year."

The significant growth of the space economy, which nearly doubled in a decade, can be taken back to 2 main lines of effort: the first one is the booming commercial market (both public and private), and the second one is the growing recognition of the space domain’s importance to national security by the governments. Nine of the top-spending governments increased their budgets by double-digits in 2023: the United States, China, Japan, Russia, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, and South Korea.”

The assessment reports that the US alone spent in the military space an estimated $46 billion. Japan’s Ministry of Defense had the second-highest growth in 2023, increasing its spending by 32% to ¥128 billion ($810 million). Polish military and political leadership have underlined multiple times that “space defense is a higher priority” for the Eastern European country, investing an estimated $59 million in 2023.

In the commercial sphere, the annual assessment reports that the space revenues totaled $445 billion in 2023,” a 5.4% increase over 2022. In detail, Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) remained the largest commercial subsector with $209 billion in revenues. Ground Stations and Equipment, which came second, grew $17 billion (19%) last year. Commercial satellite manufacturing and launch revenues, while comparatively smaller in magnitude, doubled in the 2 years as the global launch pace quickened.”