WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- NASA Administrator Michael Griffin kicked off a lecture series honoring the agency's 50th anniversary with an address Monday describing the critical role that space exploration plays in the global economy.

The emerging "space economy" was estimated at 180 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, according to the latest report by the U.S. Space Foundation. Over 60 percent of that figure came from commercial goods and services.

"NASA opens new frontiers and creates new opportunities, and because of that (NASA) is a critical driver of innovation," Griffin said. "We don't just create new jobs, we create entirely new markets and possibilities for economic growth that didn't previously exist."

The growing "space economy" is transforming human lives on Earth in ways that are not yet fully understood or appreciated. "It is not an economy in space. Not yet," he said. "But space activities create products and markets that provide benefits right here on Earth, benefits that have arisen from our efforts to explore, understand, and utilize this new medium."

"Space economy" enables satellite communications including radio and television, telemedicine, point-to-point GPS navigation, weather and climate monitoring, and space-based national security assets. It also includes the nascent space tourism industry and the development of space logistics services that will transform space transportation into a viable commercial enterprise.

"The military and political competition has largely receded into the background; today we are primarily engaged in an economic competition," said Griffin.

Griffin's lecture was the first in a series that will honor NASA's 50th birthday. The space agency was created by the National Aeronautics and Space Act and began operations on Oct. 1, 1958.