Space Marketing: A New Programme in Technical Education

Ph. Willekens & W.A. Peeters

Thirty years ago, space was in its infancy. The European space industry was almost non-existent and most international space programmes were driven by captive markets, not least Government orders associated with military programmes. With the development of commercial telecommunications satellites and new launchers, new services created new customers and the commercialisation of space was initiated. Today, this process has led to the development of new markets, each of which is at a different stage of maturity. Applications in the fields of navigation, direct-broadcast television and mobile telephony are just three examples of services for which the space industry has definitively taken the lead, investing its own resources and competing for market share on a world-wide basis.