Success factors for transferring space technologies to society

Today, there is an increased commitment to the cultural and scientific analysis of technology transfer (TT), which is also present in the management literature. Many companies have adopted technologies developed in other industrial sectors because of the rising costs of research and development and the need to create new products in a shorter time. In addition, the development and diffusion of information technology today means that new sources of knowledge can be accessed with greater ease. The need to intensify the processes of TT is particularly felt in the space sector. Firstly, space agencies have attempted to increase the returns on their investments in space missions by encouraging the commercial use of advanced technologies. Secondly, the aerospace industry is characterised by complex products of very high value produced in relatively small quantities. Lastly, these products are 'archipelago- like' systems of technology, to a large extent originating from other sectors, and can be transferred yet again. The following paper is a synthesis of the results of a research work carried out between 2009 and 2012. In particular, we have analysed: policies for TT adopted by the major space agencies [1], four TT case studies concerning the construction of scientific satellites [2], two case studies focused on space-to-earth TT programs undertaken by the Japanese aerospace agency [3] and two TT case studies examining Italian space companies [4]. The aim of this study is to present: 1) policies and strategies the major space agencies have adopted for technology transfer and 2) operational mechanisms and determinants involved in the transfer of space technologies to the industrial sector. The results of these studies indicate that the space agencies in more industrialised countries aim primarily at consolidating and developing industrial systems in their own countries, including using TT programs, and that the transfer of space technologies follows an ' earth-space-earth' route. With regard to the determinants of the TT process, the most important of these correlate with the type of technology transferred, whereas organisational, economic and financial determinants have less significance. Copyright © (2012) by the International Astronautical Federation.