The market demand for launch vehicles is expected to propel over the forecast period 2022-2032, owing to an increase in the number of proposed satellites. Growing demand to form large constellations of communications satellites bringing broadband to everyone, commercial human spaceflight, position navigation and timing, and greater space exploration and monitoring are prominent factors proliferating the global medium and heavy-lift launch vehicle market.
Read Report Overview: Medium and Heavy-Lift Launch Vehicle Market
The global medium and heavy-lift launch vehicle market is estimated to reach $9.75 billion in 2032 from $6.45 billion in 2021, at a growth rate of 3.90% during the forecast period 2022-2032. The growth in the global medium and heavy-lift launch vehicle market is expected to be driven by increasing space budgets of countries across the globe. The governments of the U.S., Russia, France, Germany, Italy, China, Japan, South Korea, and India are among the top spenders in the global space sector. In 2021, global government expenditure for space programs was over $92 billion, a 10.7% increase in Y-o-Y from 2020. The U.S. is the highest spender across the globe, followed by China. With an increase in space spending, the spending on launch vehicle manufacturing is expected to rise.
The ongoing commercial innovations across space debris tracking, fusion and analytics, space data collection, launch vehicle design, and space weather are anticipated to enhance the current space safety regime and ensure that the safety of flight products is comprehensive, timely, accurate, and highly available. Key market players, including established and new entrants, focus on reusable small launch vehicles (SLVs) to reduce cost. For instance, Falcon 9, manufactured and launched by SpaceX, is a partially re-useable, medium-lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and humans into Earth orbit, even reaching the International Space Station (ISS). As of September 2022, Falcon 9 had the most launches among the medium and heavy-lift launch vehicles in the U.S.
Impact
The global medium and heavy-lift launch vehicle market is expected to cater to the growing demand for satellite launches. Government and commercial end users are awarding multi-year contracts with the launch vehicle manufacturers and launch service providers, driving the demand for medium and heavy-lift launch vehicles. New upgraded launch vehicles are replacing older launch vehicles and are securing launch contracts in advance. For instance, the project cost of Ariane 6 is estimated to be about $3.6 billion. The launch cost for Ariane 62 is expected to be $75 million, while the cost for Ariane 64 might soar up to $115 million. In December 2021, VA256, a variant of Ariane 5, launched the James Webb Space Telescope toward the Sun-Earth L2 halo orbit.
North America is a prominent region in terms of medium and heavy-lift launch vehicle manufacturing due to key launch vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, and launch service providers such as SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Northrop Grumman Corporation. SpaceX's Falcon Heavy and Delta IV Heavy of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) are the top two heavy lift launch vehicles in the region and also across the globe. ULA will retire the Delta IV Heavy in 2024. In December 2020, for the final five missions (12-16), including modifications, ULA was awarded $2.2 billion or $440 million per launch. Comparatively, the Falcon Heavy launch price is estimated to be between $90 million and $150 million per launch.Demand - Drivers and Limitations
Analyst Perspective
According to Arunkumar Sampathkumar, Principal Analyst, BIS Research, "The global medium and heavy-lift launch vehicle market is observing an increase in government spending toward launch vehicles subsystem and component manufacturing. A steadily growing number of satellite operators in the space industry is accelerating the global medium and heavy-lift launch vehicle market. Moreover, the launch service industry is experiencing significant changes owing to a shift toward dedicated launch services from the rideshare missions. The growing demand for dedicated launch services also supports the growth of the global medium and heavy-lift launch vehicle market."
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Competitive Landscape
The competitive landscape of the medium and heavy-lift launch vehicle material market consists of several organic and inorganic strategies followed by the key players to increase their market share. The strategies include product innovations, contracts, partnerships, acquisitions, and business expansions, among others.
Recent Developments in the Global Medium and Heavy-Lift Launch Vehicle Market
- In September 2022, OneWeb and Arianespace signed an agreement following the suspension of the launches. OneWeb and Arianespace are determined to examine future opportunities together, especially on the Ariane 6 Launch Vehicle for the second generation of the constellation.
- In July 2022, NASA awarded SpaceX a $255 million contract to launch the next space telescope, which will study dark energy and exoplanets. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which is 2.4 meters in diameter, is slated to be launched in October 2026.
- In 2020, NASA awarded contracts worth $256.1 million to Eta Space, Lockheed Martin, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance, with the collective objective to build, test, and validate the in-orbit fuel collection, storage, and distribution capability of these players.
- In December 2021, NASA signed an agreement with three U.S. companies to develop designs for space stations and other commercial destinations in space. The agreements are part of the agency’s efforts to enable a robust, U.S.-led commercial economy in the low Earth orbit (LEO). The total estimated award amount for all three funded Space Act Agreements is $415.6 million.
- In September 2021, Arianespace, a subsidiary of ArianeGroup, signed a contract with Skyloom. Arianespace would launch Skyloom’s first geostationary lasercom relay node using a heavy-lift vehicle, Ariane 64.
Scope of the Study
The global medium and heavy-lift launch vehicle market has gained significant importance over the past years. The market research study offers a wide perspective on the different segments segregated on the basis of end user, payload, and launch vehicle class pertaining to the medium and heavy-lift launch vehicle market and analyzes its impact on different regions by providing critical insights into the direction of its future expansion. The research study is based on extensive primary interviews (in-house industry players, market leaders, and experts) and secondary research (a host of paid and unpaid databases), along with analytical tools to predict the forecast analysis for the study period. With the help of these, the medium and heavy-lift launch vehicle market study provides a broader perspective of the industry.
