Sky is not the limit
Building Queensland's space economy
With the global growth prospects strong, a renewed national focus, and an ambitious local industry, the space economy is an area that warrants understanding. Until now, there has been limited information about Queensland's space economy; its value, key players and growth prosects.
Today, space is an economic opportunity, as well as an intellectual and spiritual curiosity. Daily, the global space economy provides essential data and information for each and every one of us. From the internet and personal banking, to the navigation system we use in our cars or on our phones.
The new national agenda is clear – Australia can, and should, play a role in the growth of the global space economy. This value is derivative of the inherent importance of space as an economic sector, but more importantly, the spillovers of space related technology into other key sectors of the economy.
Deloitte Access Economics research for the Queensland Department of State Development, Mining, Infrastructure and Planning; reveals that today, the Queensland space industry directly employs around 2,000 full time equivalent jobs (FTEs) and contributes half a billion dollars in value added to Queensland’s economy (2018-19).
Queensland’s space economy has grand ambitions of its own – ambitions to grow, and to be globally recognised. Organisations across Queensland’s space economy are actively collaborating with each other, building specialised research capability to support commercial organisations and building commercial organisations out of specialised research capability.
Deloitte Access Economics estimate that over the next two decades, the industry could contribute $1.3 billion in value added to Queensland’s economy and employ around 5,000 FTEs. There exists a unique opportunity for Queensland to develop a space ecosystem, where upstream and downstream players have a co-ordinated approach to competing in the global supply chain.
