LOS ANGELES, April 12 -- The global space economy has grown almost 40 percent in the past five years, reflecting increasing commercialization, significant globalization, and expansion of military and civil space programs, the U.S.-based Space Foundation said on Monday.

Moreover, the industry showed remarkable resiliency over the tumultuous past 12 months, demonstrating continued expansion into 2010, the agency said in a report.

In 2009 alone, the global space economy reached 261.6 billion dollars in government budgets and commercial revenue, and there has been an almost 40 percent growth in the five years the Space Foundation has been tracking the space economy, according to the report.

The report is the definitive overview of the global space industry that serves as a valuable resource for government and business leaders, educators, financial analysts, students, and space-related businesses, said the agency based in Colorado Springs.

The companies that comprise the Space Foundation Index shared in the general stock market recovery in 2009, returning by mid- March 2010 to the level the Index had been in June 2005, the report showed.

The Index tracks market performance of public companies that derive a significant amount of their revenue from space-related assets and activities.

The report underscored the evolving relationship between government and commercial enterprise, a prominent example being the U.S. Administration's proposed changes to NASA's programs announced in February 2010.

This evolution will likely include an increasing role for the private sector through development of commercial space markets and continued space technology spin-off into non-space industries, according to report.

Research performed aboard Earth-orbiting platforms, such as the International Space Station (ISS), and increasing government space activity around the world are two burgeoning sectors of the industry with near-term commercial potential, the report said.

Military activities in space have already led to the commercialization of satellite timing, positioning, and navigation technologies and satellite imagery, said the report.

The Space Report forecast further advances as additional space capabilities reach the commercial sector.

The report also reported that launch rates have grown 42 percent from 2005 to 2009, with payloads launched growing 46 percent. Of the 78 launches reported in 2009, less than a third took place in the United States.

Russia led with 37 percent, followed by 31 percent for the United States, nine percent for Europe, eight percent for China, five percent for the Sea Launch/Land Launch consortium that comprises U.S., Russian, Ukrainian and Norwegian interests, and less than five percent each for Japan, India, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and Iran.

"While other industries struggled dramatically over the past year, the space industry defied the upheaval and broadened its fields of endeavor," said Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer Elliot Pulham.

"This is due, in large part, to the space industry's growing array of products and services and its increasing globalization," said Pulham.

Founded in 1983, the Space Foundation is an international, nonprofit organization and the foremost advocate for all sectors of the space industry -- civil, commercial, military and intelligence.