I attended a half-day symposium on The Space Economy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Friday.
Panel 1 - Marty Hauser, Henry Hertzfeld, Keith Hayward, Bill Bates
The state of the Space economy is good. It has flattening because of maturing markets, such as GPS receivers which are cost less this year than last and because of the issues in the overall economy. The Satellite Revenue has increase 16% year over year and government funding has provided stability.
Robert Hopkins
Research and development is important for our future in space. DARPA should be used as a model since it cancels nonperforming projects and it stimulates development on the cutting edge. Two areas panelist thought needed government funded research were for the development of large liquid fueled rocket engines and satellite to satellite links.
Panel 2 - Larry Williams, Conrad Lautenbacher, Steven Boutelle, Robert Hopkins
Other views of the Space Economy Symposium