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Latin America is regarded as an emerging market that global space companies are focusing on. Although it is still in the early stages, its growth rate is steep. With the added demand for supply chain diversification to reduce dependence on U.S. space companies, domestic space startups are seen as having a land of opportunity.
According to market research institutional investor Grand View Research on the 23rd, the Latin American low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite market is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 14.6%, from $128 million (approximately 177.7 billion won) in 2024 to $439 million (609.3 billion won) in 2033. In particular, the related market is growing rapidly centered on Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina.
The growth of the Latin American space industry stems from the increasing utility of services that space companies can provide. With many communication blind spots such as rainforests and mountainous areas, and with agriculture, livestock farming, and fisheries based on vast land areas, there is high demand for services like satellite communications and Earth observation. This is also why each Latin American country is rushing to establish a space agency and has launched ALCE (Latin America and Caribbean Space Agency), a pan-national alliance.
Already, major U.S. and Chinese space companies are competing to target the South American space market. However, as local demand for space industry self-reliance and supply chain diversification away from dependence on the U.S. and China is emerging, it is evaluated as an opportunity for domestic startups.
Quick-moving domestic space companies are already actively targeting the Latin American market. A representative example is launch vehicle company Inospace. Since 2023, Inospace has been using Alcântara in Brazil as its core launch site. Space ground station company Context has also established a ground station in Chile and is pursuing the construction of one in Mexico.
The government is also actively promoting space industry cooperation with Latin America. The Korea Aerospace Administration signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) last July to support domestic space companies' entry into the Latin American market together with the Brazilian Space Agency.
Meanwhile, ALCE, which serves as a single window for the space industries of 12 Latin American countries including Mexico, met with 'K-Space Forum' member companies such as Context and CSO at the Seongnam startup campus in Gyeonggi Province on the 21st to discuss business cooperation. Through this meeting, ALCE decided to strengthen its cooperative framework with the K-Space Forum and expand business cooperation with domestic space startups.
[MoneyToday Startup Media Platform Unicorn Factory]
in FUTURE
