The Space Economy
The Hidden Value of Satellite Services
How GPS, weather satellites and communications satellites create enormous economic value, and why much of it is public and free to users.
Some of the most valuable space services are free to use. Satellite navigation and weather data create huge benefits across the economy, often invisible to users.
GPS and positioning
The Global Positioning System, or GPS, run by the U.S. government, provides positioning, navigation and timing signals free to anyone in the world. Other countries run similar systems: Russia’s GLONASS, Europe’s Galileo, China’s BeiDou and India’s regional system, NavIC.
GPS supports:
- Navigation apps, delivery services and ride-hailing.
- Precision agriculture and surveying.
- Aviation and shipping.
- Timing for mobile networks, power grids and financial transactions, which rely on precise time signals.
A 2019 study commissioned by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology estimated that GPS had generated around 1.4 trillion dollars in economic benefits for the U.S. private sector since it became available for civilian use in the 1980s.
Weather satellites
Weather satellites provide data for forecasts that help farmers plan planting, airlines avoid storms, and governments warn of cyclones and floods. Better forecasts have saved many lives, as seen in the reduced deaths from cyclones in India and Bangladesh.
A public good
Because GPS signals and much weather data are freely available and one person’s use does not reduce another’s, they act as public goods. Governments fund them, and the private sector builds valuable businesses on top of them.
Vulnerability
Dependence on satellites creates risks. GPS signals can be jammed or spoofed, and incidents of GPS interference affecting aircraft and ships have increased in some conflict regions. This is one reason countries develop their own systems and backups.
India's Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, known as NavIC, provides positioning over India and surrounding regions. One motivation was strategic: during the 1999 Kargil conflict, India reportedly found it could not rely on access to GPS data. Having its own system reduces dependence on another country's infrastructure.
Services like GPS are free to users, but they support trillions of dollars of economic activity. Their value appears in the productivity of countless businesses rather than in direct sales.
- GPS and similar systems provide free positioning, navigation and timing worldwide.
- A U.S. study estimated GPS generated around 1.4 trillion dollars in private sector benefits.
- Weather satellites improve forecasts that save lives and money.
- These services act as public goods but are vulnerable to jamming and spoofing.
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