The nature of the satellite manufacturing industry is changing, much as the computer industry changed in the late 1970s. The satellite industry is becoming less of a scientific enterprise, wherein each spacecraft is a unique design, handcrafted and built for a very specific purpose, and more of a commodity business, in which satellites are built around a basic model and adapted to meet the customer's needs. Shopping for a modern communications satellite is more like buying a very expensive piece of industrial machinery than building a new type of airplane.

The Spread of Satellite Technology

Still, building satellites and satellite components is a high-prestige, high-payoff industrial activity. Ambitious nations are willing to spend heavily to create a satellite manufacturing capacity for themselves. Being able to build or launch even relatively unsophisticated spacecraft is a way to assert national pride and show the world that...