COMMERCIALIZATION OF ION PROPULSION

Commercialization of Ion Propulsion

Abstract

In this study we try to explore the concept of commercialization of ion propulsion in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on two aspects that is financial aspect as well as analysis of competitors and its relation with the commercialization of ion propulsion. The research also analyzes many aspects of competition and finances and tries to gauge its effect on commercialization of ion propulsion.

Commercialization of Ion Propulsion

Introduction

Around 30 years ago, on 12 April 1981, the development of space ships took place which was designed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) by the United States. It was not like its predecessors such as Apollo that could have been reused. Till today, they have built five ferries which made a total of 114 missions. All the astronauts who have made their trips into space have used the spaceship Discovery 31 for their mission. The other ships which have been used quite frequently after Discovery 31 are Columbia, Atlantis, Endeavour and Challenger. The operations of Columbia spaceship started in 1981 but they ceased their operations in 2003. Atlantis had 26 flights, Endeavour was used in 19 missions, and the Challenger, which was one of the first spaceships, had an accident and was destroyed in 1986, carried out 10 missions. The reason why Columbia had to cease their operations in 2003 was due to the accident which killed all seven crew members in that journey. After that many technological advancement took place to improve this journey of space. One of such technological advancement is of ion propulsion. The ambition and purpose of our organization is to take measures for the commercialization of ion propulsion. This paper presents important findings for the investors so that they can join hands with us in the successful implementation of the purpose of our organization.

Competitor's Analysis

This part of the paper presents findings about the competition that is prevalent in the industry of air and space industry.

Major competitors

Commercial space travelling is a nascent industry. But, still there are many firms that take the work and progress in this industry very seriously. These firms are burning their midnight's oil to get the success in this field. Among these firms include Virgin Galactic, Rocketplane Ltd, XCOR and many others.

Virgin Galactic works under the umbrella of Richard Benson's Virgin group of Companies. Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004. The organization wants to offer commercial space travel. For that purpose the organization has conducted various technologies. On the other hand, there is Rocketplane which is an Oklahoma based company. The company Rocketplane Inc and its two subsidiaries Rocketplane Global (space tourism) and Rocketplane Kistler (COTS), just filed for bankruptcy. Rocketplane, Which Received $ 18 million in Oklahoma tax credits, filed for bankruptcy recently. Rocketplane Global was subsidized by the state of Oklahoma (through tax credits), which should be based on "Spaceport" the plane of space tourism (Erik, 2008).

At what stage is their technology?

Various new projects have been ...