The Importance of Application Satellites to the European Economy

Extract

This paper is a reaction paper, in the sense that the author has recently been concerned, both as an economist and a technological forecaster, with looking at the total economic consequences of space activity. I describe it as a reaction paper because, as a hopefully “professional” worker, I am not amused at the methods used to evaluate proposals in this particular field, and, if one is restricted solely to the normal, customary, accepted criteria of economic reasoning, it is impossible not to react violently to the near confusion of arguments and decision-taking mechanisms in this subject.