Responsive space: Concept analysis and theoretical framework

• Published in: Acta astronautica 2009-08, Vol.65 (3), p.376-398
• Main Authors: Saleh, Joseph H., Dubos, Gregory F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquisition; Responsive space; Responsiveness maps; Space systems; Time compressibility
• ISSN: 0094-5765; 1879-2030
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2009.02.014

Customers’ needs are dynamic and evolve in response to unfolding environmental uncertainties. The ability of a company or an industry to address these changing customers’ needs in a timely and cost-effective way is a measure of its responsiveness. In the space industry, a systemic discrepancy exists between the time constants associated with the change of customers’ needs, and the response time of the industry in delivering on-orbit solutions to these needs. There are important penalties associated with such delays, and space responsiveness is recognized as a strategic imperative in commercial competitive and military environments. In this paper, we provide a critical assessment of the literature on responsive space and introduce a new multi-disciplinary framework for thinking about and addressing issues of space responsiveness. Our framework advocates three levels of responsiveness: a global industry-wide responsiveness, a local stakeholder responsiveness, and an interactive or inter-stakeholder responsiveness. We introduce and motivate the use of “responsiveness maps” for multiple stakeholders. We then identify “levers of responsiveness”: technical spacecraft- and launch-centric, as well as “soft” levers (e.g., acquisition policies) for improving the responsiveness of the space industry. Finally, we propose a series of research questions to aggressively tackle problems associated with space responsiveness.