The U.S. government and NASA began placing emphasis and resources on commercial space beginning in the early 1980s. Through its funding of Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) and commercial space policies, the U.S. government has worked to promote the development of a private space sector. This paper examines the progression of commercial space in the U.S. over the past fifteen years at a high-level. Many changes have occurred in the field of commercial space, both in perceptions and actual activities. In the eighties, emphasis was placed on the prospect of conducting materials processing leading to predictions of huge profits that never materialized. This contributed to a distorted understanding of the meaning of commercial space, and tended to overshadow more established and revenue-producing sectors of satellite-based communications and satellite launch insurance. Eventually in the late 1980s, and early 1990s, the markets that emerged were a variety of new market niches in telecommunications, remote sensing, and to a limited extent, small launch vehicles. The types of companies that have entered the private space business during this time period has been a dynamic all of its own. The "go-go" days of the 1980s were characterized by Texas-based start-up companies, and were inspired by the early success and promise of the space shuttle program. In the 1990s large aerospace corporations have formed multinational strategic alliances in an effort to posture for international markets. Space business education has emerged as an important force contributing to the organized growth of commercial space. This paper examines at a high-level, the trends and issues that have occurred during the past fifteen years in commercial space and puts forth a short view of where the industry is heading.
``Fifteen Years of Commercial Space in Retrospect''
Fifth International Conference on Space ; 1996 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
1996-07-19
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Fifteen Years of Commercial Space in Retrospect
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