Scientific production in the space sector

Scientific papers on satellite technologies have been published in specialised journals since the late 1950s, but they remained the remit of just a few experts for almost 30 years. After a first rise in the number of publications in the early 1980s, production stagnated until the end of the cold war. Since 1991, the multiplication of specialised journals and international conferences has strongly impacted the diffusion of publications on satellite technologies, growing from 2 000 to more than 6 000 in 2003, and reaching almost 16 000 papers in 2013 alone. This trend parallels the growing number of countries involved in space programmes, especially from the BRIICS.