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Excerpt from The Government's Role in the Commercialization of New Technologies: Lessons for Space Policy
Private sector interest in emerging space technologies has grown rapidly during recent years. This has been accompanied by an increased government emphasis on commercialization of these technologies. However, the transition from a virtual government space monopoly to viable private Space industries is by no means inevitable. Many advocates of government support for commercialization efforts have argued that a number of obstacles, including the high capital costs associated with some space commercialization projects, the potential breakdown of private investment incentives if successful ventures can be easily imitated, and government regulatory policy, may retard private participation in space ventures.
Many of the issues that are prominent in discussions of space policy also arose during debates over alternative energy sources, nuclear power, communication satellites, the development of commercial aircraft-even the construction of a transcontinental railroad. This paper draws upon the history of technology development in three of these industries to assess the importance of obstacles to commercialization and to evaluate the success of earlier government policies. The lessons drawn from these case studies suggest caution in extending government support for commercialization of space technologies.
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