Space and Open Innovation: Potential, limitations and conditions of success

The classical model of innovation behind closed doors is slowly but surely being challenged by the Open Innovation model that is reshaping the way organizations bring new products and services into the market. This paper reports on the results of an International Space University (ISU) Team Project (TP) focused on the potential, limitations and conditions of success of Open Innovation in the space sector using ISU׳s international, interdisciplinary, intercultural (3Is) approach. Open Innovation can be defined as “the process of strategically managing the sharing of ideas and resources among entities to co-create value”. Conventional approaches to technology development for space, such as spin-offs or spin-ins, are no longer sufficient to fully describe the interactions between organizations in today׳s Research and Development (R&D) landscape. Traditionally, conducting space technology development and launching space missions required massive infrastructure investments, long lead times and large teams of experts. However, internal R&D, dedicated marketing departments and closely guarded intellectual property are no longer the only way to achieve success. Smaller, nimbler teams, significant use of crowdfunding, a more aggressive approach to managing risk and a great motivation to leverage intellectual property are just some of their defining characteristics. By using a case study methodology focused on asteroid mining supported by a critical literature review, the project team highlighted the potential of Open Innovation in space by identifying its most promising applications as well as its limitations.