Impacts of the Space Industry
As we all know, the space sector has developed at a constantly increasing rate in the past few decades. The global space propulsion market size is USD 6.7 billion which is expected to grow to a whopping 14.2 billion by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 16.2% from 2020 to 2025!
This emerging space economy shows how the use of space assets for various applications seems to be increasing and, with it, the impacts on the economy and society.
Persistent research and growth and development have led to many technological and scientific advances that have benefitted the society on Earth in areas including health and medicine, transportation, public safety, consumer goods, energy and environment, information technology, and industrial productivity. Apart from improving the quality of life here, the knowledge acquired has also introduced new perspectives on our individual and collective place in the Universe.
The benefits mentioned above can be categorized into three fundamental areas: innovation; culture and inspiration; and new means to address global challenges.
Innovation
The many diverse impacts of the space industry on everyday life range from solar panels to implantable heart monitors, from cancer therapy to lightweight materials, and from water‐purification systems to improved computing systems and to a global search‐and‐rescue system. Furthermore, satellites, initially designed to study the space environment, now contribute to satellite telecommunications, global positioning, and advances in weather forecasting.
Space exploration will continue to be a key pilot for opening up new arenas in science and technology, triggering other sectors to partner with the space sector for joint research and development. This will inevitably profit Earth in areas such as materials, power generation and energy storage, recycling and waste management, advanced robotics, health and medicine, transportation, engineering, and computing and software.
In addition, the excitement generated by space exploration attracts youth to careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, helping to build global capacity for scientific and technological innovation.
Culture and Inspiration
The space industry offers a unique and evolving perspective on humanity’s place in the Universe, which is common to all. Every day, space exploration missions fulfil people’s curiosity, producing fresh data about the cosmos and bringing us closer to answering profound questions that have been asked for ages.
New Means to Address Global Challenges
Partnerships and capabilities developed through space exploration create new opportunities for addressing global challenges. Space exploration is a global endeavour contributing to trust and diplomacy between nations. Enhanced global partnerships and exploration capabilities may help advance international preparedness for protecting the Earth from catastrophic events such as some asteroid strikes, advancing collaborative research on space weather, and protecting spacecraft by developing new means for space debris removal. Knowledge derived from space exploration may also contribute to implementing policies for environmentally sustainable development.
There is no activity on Earth that matches the unique challenges of space exploration. The favourable past record of the first fifty years of space activity gives a strong reason for confidence that renewed investments in space exploration will have similarly positive impacts for future generations.
Pakistan’s share needs to increase as well to be able to compete with the world in terms of the economy because, here, space is an unexplored industry for now and hence, holds loads and loads of potential.
Summary
In summary, space scientists and engineers who overcame past challenges could not have thought of the ways in which their innovations are now being used on Earth. Though the precise nature of future benefits from space exploration is unpredictable, current trends suggest that significant benefits may be generated in areas such as new materials, health and medicine, transportation, and computer technology. New opportunities for job creation and economic growth are being created by private enterprises that are increasingly investing in space exploration and seeking ways to make space exploration more affordable and reliable, and thus, more sustainable and profitable.
