The worldwide space economy grew to $304.3 billion from 2011 to 2012, says a report from industry consultancy The Space Foundation.

According to The Space Report for 2013, an annually-released report on space-related activities worldwide, the figure marks a 6.7% increase, with the largest percentage increases in the area of commercial space infrastructure and support, which grew 11%.

Commercial space overall grew by 6.5%. Overall government funding increased only 1.3%, though Russia, India and Brazil all upped their investments by at least 20%.

Worldwide launch attempts fell to 78 in 2012, from 84 the year before, led by Russia with 24 attempts, of which several failed.

The US space workforce declined slightly, as did NASA's personnel numbers. However, there were slight increases in the workforce in Japan and Europe.

Source: Flight International