Space Foundation Index Shows Industry Growth

The Space Foundation Index continued its upward momentum in the first half of 2011 with an 18.9 percent increase in value. The index performed well in each quarter, outpacing both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite indexes by a substantial margin as can be seen in the chart below.

The Space Foundation Services Index had double-digit growth each quarter and led all indexes for the first half of the year. The Space Foundation Infrastructure Index outperformed its counterpart in the first quarter, but declined in the second quarter.

Key movers in the first half of 2011:

• ICO Global Communications (renamed Pendrell Corporation, effective July 21) was the biggest mover so far of the year with a gain of 87 percent, much of that in the first quarter when the courts forced a higher sale price for DBSD, a bankrupt subsidiary of ICO.
• DISH Network led the Direct-to-Home Broadcast sector with a 50 percent gain in a turnaround from where the company finished 2010. DISH made several key acquisition moves, including the DBSDpurchase mentioned above as well as that of Blockbuster. DISH is also attempting to buy Terrestar Networks out of bankruptcy. DirecTV and BSkyB also grew approximately 15 percent each. Note, after the close of June, News Corp. announced that it would no longer attempt to acquire the balance of BSkyB that it does not already own.
• The satellite imaging sector experienced a setback in the first half of 2011 as both GeoEye and DigitalGlobe declined by more than 12 percent. Weakness in commercial imagery demand caused DigitalGlobe to lower its growth forecasts.
• In June 2011, Echostar completed an acquisition of Hughes Communications. At the time the acquisition concluded, Hughes was up 50 percent since the start of the year. As a result of this acquisition, Hughes is no longer separately traded and will be removed from the Space Foundation Indexes going forward. EchoStar is up 45 percent in the first half.
• The ground infrastructure segment of the space industry continued its recovery with EMS Technologies up 67 percent, Globecomm up 46 percent and Integral Systems up 21 percent.
• Other notable movers: Sirius and Gencorp were both up by approximately 25 percent, while Loral was down by 9 percent and Computer Sciences Corporation down by almost 25 percent.