Ever since their inception, space activities have been innovative, but not driven by commercial considerations that is, until the end of the Cold War, when the commercialization of space escalated. As a result, the direction of the innovation changed in order to leverage new business opportunities, which reached a turning point in the 2010s.This book discusses the developmental trends of the world space sector in detail, by analyzing their long-term evolution, and studying why this innovative industry sometimes experiences technological and organizational delays. Innovation Trends in the Space Industry also provides a framework to diagnose more accurately the potential technological threats that are currently faced by existing space tech manufacturers.Moreover, this book, with an economic perspective, provides a close examination of the space sector. It also contributes to enriching innovation management theory by leading us to better understand industry emergence shaped by customers, to reinterpret technological and organizational inertia in high technology activities, and to refine disruptive innovation trends.

Preface ixIntroduction xiiiChapter 1. Theoretical and Empirical Framework 11.1. Innovation management: introductory elements 21.1.1. Diversity and legitimacy of innovation 31.1.2. Typology of innovations 51.1.3. Developing product innovations 91.1.4. The industry cycle 151.2. The space industry 221.2.1. Why study the space industry? 231.2.2. Sources and level of analysis 241.2.3. The boundaries of the space industry 251.2.4. Structure of the space industry 28Chapter 2. The Emergence of Industry: The Influence of Demand 432.1. The space industry is in the emerging phase 442.1.1. Emergence as an object of study 442.1.2. Characterizing emergence 462.1.3. Method: sources and measurements 492.1.4. Results 532.1.5. Discussion 562.2. Customers shape the industry dynamics in the emergence phase 572.2.1. Theoretical framework 572.2.2. Sources 602.2.3. Results: influence of customers on the emergence of the space industry 602.2.4. Discussion and implications 652.3. Demand influences technological change 702.3.1. Sources, data and indicators 702.3.2. Loss of impetus resulting in technical change 722.3.3. Influence of demand on technological change 782.3.4. Discussion and conclusion 84Chapter 3. Slow Adoption of Innovations: A Key Success Factor 873.1. Slow adoption of technological innovations: a key success factor 883.1.1. Introduction 883.1.2. Inertia: a literature review 903.1.3. Modeling a strategy of technological inertia based on reliability 943.1.4. Research methodology 973.1.5. Results 1053.1.6. Discussion and conclusion 1063.2. Slow adoption of organizational innovations: a key success factor 1093.2.1. Introduction 1093.2.2. Organizational change: a literature review 1113.2.3. Modeling the organizational inertia strategy 1163.2.4. Methodology 1173.2.5. Results 1183.2.6. Discussion and conclusion 126Chapter 4. Technological Discontinuities and Strategic Diagnosis 1314.1. Disruptive innovations and threat analysis 1324.1.1. Introduction 1324.1.2. The theory of disruptive innovations 1344.1.3. Model 1394.1.4. Methodology 1444.1.5. Results 1454.1.6. Discussion 1564.1.7. Conclusion 158Conclusion 161References 169Index 191