National and other institutional budgets often contribute to the start-up and development of capital-intensive and high technology sectors such as space. This section provides details on two aspects of government budgets dedicated to space activities: 1) Civilian space programmes as presented annually in Government Budget Appropriations or Outlays for Research and Development (GBAORD); and 2) Public institutional space budgets, covering both civilian and military budgets.

Capital stocks represent the accumulation of equipment and structures available to produce goods or render services. In the case of space activities many of the installations are predominantly of a public nature (e.g. laboratories, launch pads) although the private sector has an increasingly important role in providing services. Because the sources are so diverse, capital stocks are difficult to estimate.

The space sector comprises a myriad of specialised jobs, ranging from engineer to marketing specialists, although the majority of people working in the space sector have a science, mathematics, engineering or information technology background. Although estimates vary, existing data already provide some pointers as to the size of the workforce in the space sector, but not in the much wider space economy which includes more providers of space-related products and services. Overall, the space sector is traditionally not a very large employer. Less than 170 000 people work in space manufacturing in the United States, some 31 000 people in Europe and 50 000 in China. This is also a very concentrated industry, as for example, four large industrial holdings are directly responsible for more than 70% of total European space industry employment.