Assessing China's commercial satellite communications sector as a potential case of disruptive innovation

Abstract

China's space industry has made exponential advancements since its creation in 1956, and has recently witnessed a rapid growth of commercial companies. At the same time, certain Chinese industries have found success in disruptive innovation, which have displaced established competitors in both domestic and international markets. We examine whether Chinese commercial space companies might follow the footsteps of these other industries and generate cost, application, and business model innovations that disrupt the satellite communications sector. Our findings draw from in-person interviews with commercial space companies in China, and a review of news articles and investment data. Results indicate that while emerging commercial space companies are not very technologically mature compared to their Western counterparts, they exhibit many of the attributes of disruptive innovation in the global space sector.