Rising orbital congestion and geopolitical tensions accelerate government and commercial SSA investment
Paris, France – May 2026 – The 2nd edition of Novaspace’s Space Situational Awareness (SSA) report points to a pivotal decade ahead, with cumulative global spending projected to reach $61 billion over the next ten years. Amid rising orbital congestion, contested space activity, and growing geopolitical tensions, SSA is becoming foundational to space security, operational resilience, and long-term orbital safety.
“SSA is no longer just about tracking objects, it has become a strategic capability underpinning national security, operational decision-making, and the safe use of increasingly congested orbital environments,” said Hugo Kalifa. “Governments are strengthening sovereign SSA capabilities while increasingly leveraging commercial providers to enhance resiliency, sensing diversity, and operational responsiveness.”
While government-led programs will continue to dominate overall investment, the commercial SSA data and services market is expected to reach $3.6 billion between 2025 and 2034, driven largely by public-sector demand for complementary capabilities including persistent monitoring, diversified sensing architectures, and scalable analytics.
Dedicated SSA satellite deployments are expected to accelerate through 2034, led by investments in Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) and Space Domain Awareness (SDA) missions. SST spacecraft alone are projected to account for 49% of dedicated SSA satellites launched.
“As orbital congestion intensifies, SSA is becoming the operational backbone connecting civil space traffic coordination, commercial mission assurance, and national security requirements,” added Marco Tomassetti. “These capabilities will increasingly determine which actors can operate safely, reliably, and strategically in space.”
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