OVERCOMING COVID-19 CHALLENGES IN EMERGING SPACE INDUSTRIES

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic challenged every business in all sectors around the world, whether it is a private or public, which demanded swift adaptation ensuring the persistence of businesses, industries, or organizations, and maximizing resource utilization. Therefore, different strategies were implemented by different governments and entities to tackle the challenges that accompanied the lockdown situation. This article describes the different tools and processes utilized by the National Space Science Agency (NSSA) of the Kingdom of Bahrain during the pandemic, tackling mainly communication, work culture, and remote project management challenges that severely impacted the nanosatellites development and space applications projects. This article also provides recommendations to have a better workflow to maintain organization sustainability, increase the productivity of the workforce during any pandemic and promote a culture of adaptability in the workplace; while minimizing the risks of the spread of pathogens, thus protecting the business and most importantly employees.