As most of the world slowed to a pandemic-induced halt this year, the space industry rocketed forward. A pair of astronauts launched to orbit on a private spacecraft for the first time. Three separate missions blasted off to Mars. And a robot hundreds of millions of miles from Earth grabbed the largest sample of an asteroid ever captured.

Looking back on 2020, space turned out to be a relative bright spot in a particularly dark year. Boosted by government contracts and increased demand in some sectors, the private space industry pushed through the chaos of this year. At the same time, public exploration missions scrambled to meet rigid timetables. And both groups managed to triumph while adhering to rapidly changing public health restrictions around the globe.

“GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD HAVE INCREASED THEIR FOCUS ON SPACE AS A PRIORITY”
Despite the turmoil, the world launched more than 1,200 satellites this year, according to spaceflight tracker Jonathan McDowell — more than in any other year past. And while many of those satellites were either small in size, or bulk satellites from SpaceX, the numbers are indicative of just how much the space economy has grown in the previous years — and how resilient spaceflight has become even when faced with a pandemic.

“Governments around the world have increased their focus on space as a priority, either for national defense like in the US, or for exploration,” Carissa Christensen, founder and CEO of Bryce Space and Technology, a space analytics and engineering firm, tells The Verge. Even during a pandemic, that emphasis continued, she says.

The space world wasn’t completely immune to COVID-19, though. When the pandemic first got underway, many companies had to slow down or pause their activities as they adjusted to new social distancing guidelines, staggered shifts, and new cleaning practices. Europe temporarily ceased flights out of its spaceport in French Guiana in mid-March, and some satellite launches suffered delays as travel restrictions made it difficult to transport hardware. Engineers even turned off some instruments on spacecraft already in space to reduce the labor needed to keep them running.


ULA’s Atlas V rocket launched NASA’s Perseverance rover to Mars in July. Image: NASA
A few companies suffered major losses, too. Bigelow Aerospace, which aims to build inflatable space habitats, let go all of its employees in late March, citing lockdown restrictions. And certain sectors of the satellite industry suffered slowdowns, especially those that provide communications and services for cruise and maritime industries, as well as airlines, says Christensen. “Some of the changes in travel patterns have had an impact on satellite operators,” she says.

But other areas of the satellite world saw a huge increase in demand this year. Governments and industries sought out data from companies that provide high-resolution imagery of Earth and geospatial intelligence, says Chad Anderson, CEO of angel investment and venture capital firm Space Angels. People were eager to learn more about how the pandemic has impacted travel and what new global trends have emerged on Earth in 2020.