Business roadmap for the European Union in the NewSpace ecosystem: a case study for access to space

Abstract

A business roadmap is a high-level strategic management tool that maps the actions to develop new industries. It serves as a guide to plan and forecast technological, market and product developments in a more operational way. Precisely, the business roadmap of this article highlights the main actions to be taken by the European Union (EU) space ecosystem with regards to Low Earth Orbit (LEO)—orbits from 450 to 2000 km—and Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO)—orbits from 150 to 450 km. On the one hand, it is necessary to (1) develop industrial and technological space capabilities, (2) continue investing public funds in European Programs to develop new vehicle concepts of access to space, (3) improve testing, demonstration and exploration for faster the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) development, (4) promote an entrepreneurial and risk-taking culture, and (5) leverage the private investment to boost the development of advanced access to space technologies, attract talent, promote collaboration between public and private companies, and finance NewSpace Small–Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs). On the other hand, it should also strengthen its relationship with the European Space Agency (ESA) to foster its space capabilities and become a competitive player in the access to space market in the medium term (5–10 years). The implementation of these actions will help the EU to improve its international positioning, and adapt the technology to the needs and requirements of NewSpace demand, mobilizing around €40,500 million euros for the EU economy during the first 10–15 years of operations with an average Leverage Factor (LF) of 4.