Guests: David Vaccaro, Jonathan Beland. Topics: The Futron 2012 Space Competitive Index (SCI). Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. We welcomed back David Vaccaro and Jonathan Beland to discuss the Futron 2012 Space Competitive Index (SCI). You can freely download the SCI Executive Summary at www.futron.com/SCI_2012.xml. The SCI provides annual statistical benchmarks, analysis, and business intelligence for both commercial and national space activities for fifteen countries, examining markers in the Government, Human Capital and sectors. Five new countries were added for the 2011 data which is used for the 2012 report. The list of countries analyzed includes the U.S, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe (all of Europe, not the individual European countries), India, Israel, Japan, Russia, S. Korea, Argentina, Australia, Iran, South Africa and the Ukraine. The five new countries added include Australia, Argentina, Iran, S. Africa, and the Ukraine. While this program was conducted using two segments, this summary is written without regard to the segments as our discussion points crossed segments throughout the program. As we started out, our guests provided us with a brief history regarding the SCI and clearly stated its purpose. Note that it is self-financed by Futron and remains completely independent of any & all pressures. Also, note that again, the U.S. remains the only country of those examined that consistently declines year by year but because our government spending is so huge and our economy, despite our problems is so huge, the U.S. remains in first place as the space industry leader of all those countries studied. Our guests told us about the benchmarks and how the SCI was constructed. They responded to lots of listener questions, including questions about why the report is not used by candidates in political campaigns, its potential influence among those in Congress and other policy makers, and the same in other countries. We talked about the impact of space industry workforce layoffs, the termination of Constellation and the shuttle showing up in the analysis and how such events might impact the U.S. score. As you will hear, our team expects the 2012 data in the 2013 report to reflect these changes in our space program. A listener asked if the SCI tracked the growth of space advocacy in the U.S., wondering why it is growing but not that much in policy impact. Other listeners asked about the growth of cubesats, especially in the U.S. and how that was reported. Also, if ITAR was a limiting factor for the U.S. Yet another asked our guests if the SCI viewed SpaceX as commercial or government subsidized in the context of the report and its analysis. When asked about a future country watch list, we talked about Viet Nam, S. Korea, South America and Mexico. In addition to lots of questions about the U.S., we talked about space in many of the other countries, why they kept investing while the U.S. seemed to be retreating. Another issue talked about was global positive view of space, embracing more and more countries, views not always held here at home. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. Both our guests gave out their Futron email addresses as the program was ending.
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