If You Build It, Who Will Come? Identifying Markets for Low-Cost Small Satellites

If You Build It, Who Will Come? Identifying Markets for Low-Cost Small Satellites

Technological advances in small satellites have opened up new markets beyond their traditional role of technology demonstration applications, but which markets would be most receptive to smallsats, and how large those markets might be, are critical unanswered questions. To determine the potential market for a notional lowcost smallsat, Futron Corporation performed a market definition study. The first step of this process was to identify all the potential markets that could be served by a notional low-cost smallsat. Through a process of secondary research and interviews with smallsat manufacturers, Futron identified over 30 potential markets in the military, civil/commercial communications, civil/commercial remote sensing, and miscellaneous market sectors. Futron researched these potential markets by conducting secondary research and performing interviews with prospective customers to gauge their interest in low-cost smallsat systems. From that list six markets emerged that are the most promising in the near term: military science and technology; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; remote site communications; polling of unattended sensors; high-resolution Earth observations; and Landsat-class environmental monitoring. Combined, these markets could generate an estimated demand for up to 40 to 75 smallsats a year, with resulting revenue potentially in excess of a half-billion dollars per year.