Putting a Price on Space: The Economic Value of Space-Based Communications and the Cost of Terrestrial Redundancy

We focus on the value of space-based communications infrastructure. We estimate the approximate cost of replacing space-based data flow infrastructure with land-based infrastructure. This includes an increased mix of land-based radio transmission systems and land and sub-ocean cables. There are other dimensions outside this assessment, including communications for navigation and linkages for remote areas.

Nonetheless, the exercise provides a lower bound estimate of the capital costs needed to replace space-based communications capacity and so provides a rough benchmark for the replacement cost of space-based communications services. We estimate $450-$500 billion in initial global investment, followed by tens of billions in annual maintenance costs. Even then, such a network would still fail to cover deep-ocean and polar regions effectively.