This book offers a comprehensive overview of current space exploration in terms of geopolitical
and commercial aspects. Despite multiple attempts to foster commercial activities in the field
of space exploration for decades the domain largely continued to be funded and led by
governments in the form of national and international programmes. However the situation
changed with the retirement of the Space Shuttle and the introduction of NASA's Commercial
Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) programme which employed an innovative procurement
scheme based on competitive performance-based fixed-price milestones. The success of this
programme marked an important milestone in the evolution of the relationship between government
and industry. The growing opportunities for private actors to make more prominent contributions
to space exploration also lie in the New Space ecosystem a sectoral transformation
characterised by a substantial increase in private investment and the emergence of commercial
efforts to develop disruptive concepts and address new markets.
