What is it about?
This paper looks at how we can organize partnerships between governments and private companies to successfully develop space activities, including future missions beyond Earth. By studying four real-world examples—from the Apollo Moon landings to modern space tourism—it compares different ways these partnerships are structured. The goal is to understand why some work better than others and how they can be used to support long-term, sustainable efforts in space exploration and development. [https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=4993807]
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Why is it important?
This work is unique in offering a new comparative framework to understand how public-private partnerships (PPPs) function as organizing models for space development. While PPPs are often discussed in general terms, this study categorizes them into four distinct types and shows how their effectiveness varies based on philosophy, structure, and context. This is especially timely as governments and companies around the world are actively rethinking how to collaborate on ambitious interplanetary goals, including Moon and Mars missions. The findings help policymakers choose the right kind of partnership for the challenge at hand—potentially increasing the success rate of future space ventures.
Perspectives
Writing this paper was both a deep dive into space policy and a creative challenge in its own right. I’ve long been fascinated by how we organize ourselves to do big, complex things—especially when they involve rockets, risk, and the vast unknown. This research let me connect historical lessons from the early days of space commercialization with the emerging strategies of today’s “New Space” era. I hope it helps others think more critically—and maybe even more imaginatively—about how we build partnerships to go beyond Earth, sustainably and inclusively.
Dr. Robert Edgell
SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Grand Creative Challenge of Commercializing Interplanetary Space: An Empirical Comparative Taxonomy of Organizing Models, January 2024, Curran Associates, Inc.,
DOI: 10.52202/078383-0019.
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