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Topic · Astronomy and Astrophysics

Space exploration and regulation

Space exploration and regulation is a research topic within Astronomy and Astrophysics. Science Explorer counts 16k research works in it since 1950. 10.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers encompasses a wide range of topics related to space exploration, governance, and the commercialization of space activities. It covers issues such as space tourism, satellite programs, space policy, sustainability of outer space activities, geopolitics of outer space, and the development of international space law. The cluster also delves into the globalization of space activities, space diplomacy, and the challenges and opportunities associated with the commercial space industry.

  • Space Tourism
  • Space Policy
  • Satellite Programs
  • Globalization of Space Activities
  • Commercial Space Industry
  • Space Diplomacy
  • Sustainability of Outer Space Activities
  • Geopolitics of Outer Space
  • Space Technology Transfer
  • International Space Law
Research works
16k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.6k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+32%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
40% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Space exploration and regulation

Which countries lead Space exploration and regulation research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (945 and 288 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 945 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 288 works
  3. 3 China 229 works
  4. 4 France 178 works
  5. 5 India 170 works
  6. 6 Italy 148 works
  7. 7 Russia 123 works
  8. 8 Australia 121 works
  9. 9 Germany 110 works
  10. 10 Canada 79 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 39.6%United Kingdom: 12.0%China: 9.6%France: 7.4%6 others listed: 31.4%40%largest
United States945 · 39.6%United Kingdom288 · 12.0%China229 · 9.6%France178 · 7.4%6 others listed750 · 31.4%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Space exploration and regulation research?

By volume in 2022-now, National Aeronautics and Space Administration publishes the most Space exploration and regulation research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and European Space Agency.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationUnited States 50 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 42 works
  3. 3 European Space AgencyFrance 39 works
  4. 4 United States Department of DefenseUnited States 27 works
  5. 5 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 26 works
  6. 6 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 22 works
  7. 7 Science CouncilUnited Kingdom 21 works
  8. 8 Department of SpaceIndia 19 works
  9. 9 Slovak Academy of SciencesSlovakia 18 works
  10. 10 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States 16 works

Who are the leading researchers in Space exploration and regulation?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Space exploration and regulation include Michael Snyder.

  1. 1 Michael Snyder United States 224k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Space exploration and regulation?

The most cited paper in Space exploration and regulation is "Magnitude and complex based diffusion signal reconstruction" (Marco Pizzolato, Ashis Ghosh, Timothé Boutelier et al., 2014), with 6,753 citations. Next come "Outside the Safe Operating Space of the Planetary Boundary for Novel Entities" (1,330) and "Journal of the British interplanetary society" (1,298).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Magnitude and complex based diffusion signal reconstruction Marco Pizzolato, Ashis Ghosh, Timothé Boutelier et al. · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) Conference paperOpen access 18 Sep 2014 6,753
2 Outside the Safe Operating Space of the Planetary Boundary for Novel Entities Linn M. Persson, Bethanie Carney Almroth, Chris D. Collins et al. · Environmental Science & Technology Open access 18 Jan 2022 1,330
3 Journal of the British interplanetary society Carl Sagan · Icarus 1975 1,298
4 Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences Elazar Uchupi · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 1993 830
5 Optic Disc Edema, Globe Flattening, Choroidal Folds, and Hyperopic Shifts Observed in Astronauts after Long-duration Space Flight Thomas H. Mader, Charles Robert Gibson, Anastas F. Pass et al. · Ophthalmology 18 Aug 2011 758
All 102 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Space exploration and regulation research done?

The largest centres of Space exploration and regulation research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), London (United Kingdom), Moscow (Russia) and Paris (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Colorado Springs.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 104 works
  2. 2 LondonUnited Kingdom 79 works
  3. 3 MoscowRussia 79 works
  4. 4 ParisFrance 75 works
  5. 5 Washington D.C.United States 65 works
  6. 6 RomeItaly 47 works
  7. 7 BengaluruIndia 39 works
  8. 8 TokyoJapan 38 works
  9. 9 New YorkUnited States 38 works
  10. 10 WarsawPoland 31 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Colorado SpringsUS · 22.5 works41×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Space exploration and regulation than the world average.

See Space exploration and regulation on the map

Where is the best place to study Space exploration and regulation?

Among universities, judged by research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and UNSW Sydney score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 15.53%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Beijing Institute of…UNSW SydneyCalifornia Institute…Massachusetts Instit…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 82.535.7%4.3×15 +405.9%
2Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States 80.413.7%7.8×16 +81.4%
3UNSW SydneyAustralia 72.817.6%4.1×11 +66.5%
4California Institute of TechnologyUnited States 65.016.4%14.8×16 -29.6%
5University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 63.915.8%3.2×13 +105.4%
6Politecnico di MilanoItaly 62.110.0%6.9×15 +897.8%
7Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 58.013.4%2.9×13 +90.5%
8Georgia Institute of TechnologyUnited States 55.48.1%7.2×13 +7.9%
9University of MichiganUnited States 50.72.4%3.4×15 +307.0%
10The University of MelbourneAustralia 49.722.2%2.4×8 +10.4%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Space exploration and regulation, country by country

Is Space exploration and regulation research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 32% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Space exploration and regulation.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Space exploration and regulation as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.018% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Space exploration and regulation0.016% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Space exploration and regulation over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Space exploration and regulation10.4% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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