Measuring Space Manufacturing Plant Utilization and Own-Account Production

Manufacturing is the largest sector in the U.S. space economy, comprising 25.2 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022. Space manufacturing is also a significant contributor to overall U.S. manufacturing, responsible for 6.4 percent of computer and electronics products manufacturing GDP in 2022 and 7.5 percent of other transportation equipment manufacturing GDP. Given the significance of space-related manufacturing to both the space economy and domestic manufacturing, having accurate measures of economic activity for this area of the economy is crucial. In this paper, we examine two topics we believe are a priority for better understanding the current state of domestic space manufacturing. First, we introduce a space economy manufacturing plant utilization index, a novel approach to estimating utilization of manufacturing plants that contribute to the space economy. Second, we discuss initial efforts to account for manufacturing of satellites and space vehicles by companies providing these capital goods for themselves, known as own-account production. As manufacturing continues to lead the U.S. space economy, ongoing improvements to measures of production are becoming increasingly important to inform policy and business decisions