Australian space sector economic report: 2016–17 to 2018–19

Date published:
1 February 2021

The Australian Government’s Advancing Space: Australian Civil Space Strategy 2019-2028 sets overarching goals:

  • to triple the size of the Australian space sector to AU$12 billion
  • create up to 20,000 new direct and indirect space jobs by 2030
  • grow the sector at an annual rate of 8.5%
  • reach inbound investment of $1 billion.

The Australian Space Agency analysed the progress of the Australian space sector between the financial years of 2016-17 and 2018-19. Independent consultants Nous Group and AlphaBeta (Accenture) supported this work.

Over the 2 years:

  • sector revenue grew from $4.3 billion to $4.6 billion
  • direct space jobs increased from 10,400 to 11,500
  • the number of space organisations increased from 432 to 481.

AlphaBeta’s report provides an independent analysis of the sector’s economic contribution in 2018-19. This report also considers future potential, including an analysis of transferrable capabilities.