Space, Politics, and COVID-19: Analyzing the Impact on Global Space Ecosystem

The global space industry might have accelerated its expansion in the private domain, but government support still remains one of the crucial parts of the business. With the COVID-19 outbreak, several industries are experiencing a hassle of finances, and the space industry is also surfing through similar waves of COVID-19. In this time of crisis, the government funding landscape will inculcate more technological applications that are helpful to revamp the national economy. Though traditional satellite companies might record a fluctuating revenue, the New Space sector will at the edge of crisis due to the high demand for innovative and low-cost solutions. And this will give rise to a competitive ecosystem in the New Space arena. While experiencing all these ups and downs of the finances, the international cooperation and politics are crucial to several space companies in-order to rebuild the long-term path lost during the crisis. To provide a brief outlook on the overall interconnection of space, politics, and COVID-19, I am presenting an impact analysis as follows:

1. International Cooperation in Space: How the governments will cooperate post-COVID-19

As the United Nations (UN) has declared a global ceasefire, more than 10 conflicting states (as shown in the map below) have welcomed this appeal to cooperate in this time of global health crisis. Though the military interests are currently kept aside, the diplomacy continues to unfold several corners of the space applications for military purposes. And Iran’s recent military satellite launch is a signal to the political cheesecake consumers that though on a smaller scale, the military interests remain key to shape the nation’s role in the global space ecosystem.

In the post-COVID-19 landscape, the cooperation governments will yield fruitful results in terms of helping the space industry to get back to normal with the necessary resources. For example, the world’s biggest intergovernmental military alliance, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), declared space as one…