The Earth Observation Business

Now in it's fifth year the Earth Observation Business Summit organised by Euroconsult provides an overview of the  Earth Observation industry. I was part of a panel on the view from the Location Based Services industry, which it is estimated to be about 4% of the annual $1.5 billion market.

Some other interesting facts from Euroconsult..

– the number of Earth observation (EO) satellites launched by civil government and commercial entities is expected to more than double over the next decade to 360 satellites !

– within 10 years  42 countries will have launched at least a first-generation earth observation satellite

– Earth Observation satellites are getting cheaper,  during the next decade 69% of EO satellites will cost less that $100 million (compared to 56% in the last decade)

There is a real sense that the market is changing with new players like skybox representing a new direction..