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In 2012, the OECD published the Handbook on Measuring the Space Economy, the first international effort to systematically define and measure the “space economy”, a challenging task given its array of very diverse economic activities. Since then, the definition of the space economy provided in the publication has been widely adopted by governments and the private sector alike.
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Space activities are growing globally, and the services derived from them are increasingly important to society. This second edition of the Handbook on Measuring the Space Economy responds to the needs of policymakers from multiple economic sectors that are reflecting on such changes in their measurement strategies. It takes account of the evolving landscape of space activities, technologies and user needs surrounding two core observations:
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Governments need to keep track of how, where and by whom space activities are being conducted in order to tailor public policy accordingly. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the actors performing space activities with definitions for better distinguishing between actors and improving international data comparability.
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The number and quality of indicators measuring the socio-economic effects of space activities have grown over the years, but challenges remain in achieving comparability and linking back to overlying policy objectives. This chapter addresses some of these issues by clarifying current terminology based on the evaluation literature, reviewing selected examples of indicators and identifying potential future needs.
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