| Since the advent of 1960s commercial space activity, public and private users of space-based systems have sought affordable access to space and Earth orbit, particularly as space telecommunications, remote sensing, and navigation and positioning services/products integrate into U.S. national economic development. Prior to 1984 all space launch systems were government owned. Beginning in 2006, the U.S. federal government partly transitioned to the role of customer with private companies providing cargo and personnel space access to the International Space Station. Current U.S. policy places a demand on the fledgling commercial space transportation industry to meet all government and non-governmental orbital space access and needs. With both private and public (primarily through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) investment to develop reduced cost launch capabilities, the factors influencing the global competitive advantage of U.S. commercial space transportation firms are speculative in recent literature or outdated as a result of current technological achievements. The ability of U.S. commercial space transportation business owners to succeed in a global marketplace is uncertain without competitive advantage attributes. This study explored which attributes that practitioners in the industry perceived as the factors that lead to improved competitive advantage and the extension of Porter's theory in the U.S. commercial space transportation industry. A qualitative case study was used to identify the attributes affecting current and near-term (through 2020) competitive advantage of the U.S. commercial space transportation industry to facilitate business strategies and legislative decision-making to assist the rapid and successful growth of the enterprise. Participants included U.S. commercial space transportation industry and regulatory experts. The findings of this study revealed that the U.S. space transportation industry is tightly tied to the government through acquisition and regulatory processes. The only significant indicators of success from this study relate to government contracts and partnerships, angel investor participation, and supply chain management strategies. Further, there are few direct competitors in the commercial market making the identification of significant strategies difficult to assess or make a determination of critical differences that signify competitive advantage using Porter's diamond as a framework. Study findings pointed to cultural factors and government behaviors with the potential to dramatically influence the competitive nature of the U.S. space transportation industry in the near- and long-term future. Several recommendations were presented for focused research and analysis to determine the effects of these factors in the future. In addition, organizational ecology and contingency theory offer potential theoretical lenses to conduct additional industry analysis. |
