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Security in Space The Next Generation - UNIDIR

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40<br />

INCREASE IN SPACE ACTORS<br />

L<strong>in</strong>ked to the operational challenges of the space environment are the<br />

number and diversity of space actors, which cont<strong>in</strong>ue to grow as the social,<br />

economic and security benefi ts that space access provides are sought.<br />

Chart 2 <strong>in</strong>dicates the grow<strong>in</strong>g number of national actors access<strong>in</strong>g outer<br />

space.<br />

50<br />

45<br />

40<br />

35<br />

30<br />

25<br />

20<br />

15<br />

10<br />

5<br />

0<br />

1955<br />

Chart 2. Growth <strong>in</strong> the number of national actors access<strong>in</strong>g space<br />

1959<br />

1963<br />

1967<br />

1971<br />

1975<br />

● = fi rst <strong>in</strong>dependent launch<br />

● = deployment of fi rst satellite<br />

1979<br />

Source: Jonathan’s <strong>Space</strong> Report, “Satellite Catalogue and Launch Catalogue”,<br />

; Encyclopedia Austronautica,<br />

“Chronology 2004”, .<br />

Not only are more national actors ga<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g access to outer space, particularly<br />

develop<strong>in</strong>g countries, but new private actors with a range of <strong>in</strong>terests are<br />

also emerg<strong>in</strong>g. As companies such as <strong>Space</strong>X and Bigelow Aerospace seek<br />

to revolutionize access to outer space by drastically reduc<strong>in</strong>g costs and<br />

provid<strong>in</strong>g access to private <strong>in</strong>dividuals, the number and type of users of<br />

outer space will cont<strong>in</strong>ue to grow. Even among traditional civil, military,<br />

and commercial space actors, the use of outer space is both grow<strong>in</strong>g and<br />

diversify<strong>in</strong>g. In 2007, the number of satellites launched by each actor<br />

1983<br />

1987<br />

1991<br />

1995<br />

1999<br />

2003<br />

2007

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