Redefining Space Commerce

Book excerpt: “New Space" is reshaping the economic landscape of the space industry and has far-reaching implications for technological innovation, business models, and market dynamics. This change, aligned with the digitalization in the world economy, has given rise to innovations in the downstream space segment. This “servitization” of the space industry, essentially, has led to the transition from selling products like satellites or spacecraft, to selling the services these products provide. This also connects to applications of various technologies, like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and virtualization. Redefining Space Commerce: The Move Toward Servitization discusses the advantages of this shift (e.g., cost reduction, increased access to space for smaller organizations and countries), as well as the challenges, such as maintaining safety and security, establishing standardization and regulation, and managing risks. The implications of this may be far-reaching, affecting not only the space industry but also related fields, such as defense, telecommunications, and activity monitoring. This report also explores the transformative changes happening in the space sector and their impact on economic evaluation and space policy. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio. https://doi.org/10.4271/EPR2024002