Space Readiness Level A parameter to help to introduce traditional company in Space Economy
- Paper ID
63146
- author
- company
Mars Planet; Università degli Studi di Parma
- country
Italy
- year
2021
- abstract
We introducee the concept of Space Readiness Levels (SRLs) are a systematic metric/measurement system that supports assessments of the maturity of a company to enter the Space Market. In its concept, the SRLs system can be considered a simple evolution of the well known TRLs and refer to the capability of a company or an organization to enter or to be part of the Space market. As TRLs identify the level of maturity of a technology developed for any use, SRLs identify how much far a company is from the economic opportunities that are being generated by the new Space Economy. Furthermore, in their definition, the SRLs, include also a coding which is directly linked to the ESA technology tree definitions. In this manner, SRLs use already existing coding to classify space technology but “on the other side of the river”: to demonstrate the efforts made by the companies, especially the traditional ones, to enter in the space market. The reason to introduce the SRLs is due to the recent development of the Space sector, in which while many traditional companies identify a possibility to develop a new and interesting type of business in the Space segment, they look at this opportunity as a long term one. The introduction of SRLs wants to be a support tool to help the newcomers of the Space economy to make “the giant leap”. To push the newcomers to invest in the Space sector it is mandatory to offer them a roadmap of introduction in line with their expectations and their financial resources, otherwise, it would be difficult for the Space sector to push the traditional companies to join the new adventure in Space. Since the SRLs can be used to demonstrate the efforts made by the company to enter in the Space Sector, they can be delivered as a kind of certificate to financial analysts, investors, venture capital companies, Space agencies interested to evaluate the potential of the companies already operating or which desire to operate in the Space sector. The future evolution of the SRLs system could be an international SRLs certificate recognition system able to appoint governmental institutions or private companies as certified agencies whose role is the delivery of the SRLs certificates to traditional companies and to the ones which are already operating in the Space Sector.