The space economy is a growing industry, with estimates for 2022, valuing it at $546 billion globally. As more companies enter this emerging market, conducting competitive analysis is crucial for new space economy startups to understand the competitive landscape and position themselves for success. This article provides a guide on how space economy startups can approach competitive analysis.

Identify Direct Competitors

The first step is to identify companies that offer similar products, services, or technology as your startup. Direct competitors are businesses that your target customers could directly substitute for your offering.

To find direct competitors:

• Search industry reports and market research on the space economy for lists of key players. Reports by research firms like Northern Sky Research, Euroconsult, and Bryce Technology can be helpful.
• Look at who is serving the same customer segments or needs that you plan to target. For example, if you are developing satellite Earth observation services targeting consumers, identify other companies providing consumer satellite Earth observation.
• Examine who else is working on similar space technology or infrastructure. If you are focused on reusable launch vehicles, see what other private launch providers are developing comparable systems.
• Search press releases and news articles mentioning competitors in your domain. The trade press for aerospace and space technology can reveal additional competitors.
• Attend industry conferences and events to learn about other startups tackling similar problems. Engage attendees to ask who else they see as competitors.

Profile Direct Competitors

With your list of direct competitors identified, you now need to profile each one to understand their strengths and weaknesses relative to your startup. Key areas to research for each competitor include:

• Products or services – What offerings do they currently have? How mature are these products? Do they have a robust product pipeline or roadmap?
• Technology – What space technology do they utilize? Do they own key intellectual property or have proprietary tech advantages?
• Customers – Who are their target customer segments? What is their reputation with customers? How embedded are they with key accounts?
• Market share – What is their share of the market? Is it growing or declining? How does it compare to other players?
• Funding and financials – How much capital have they raised? Are they profitable? What is their burn rate? How much runway do they have?
• Team and leadership – Who are their key executives and technical talent? What is their leadership philosophy and culture? What positions are they hiring for?
• Partnerships and ecosystem – Who do they partner with? Do they have strong strategic alliances? How is their ecosystem positioned?
• Marketing and positioning – How do they market themselves and frame their brand? What is their positioning relative to alternatives?

Identify Indirect Competitors

In addition to direct competitors, also research key indirect competitors. These are alternatives that customers could select over your offering, even if they are not directly competing products.

For space startups, common indirect competitors include:

• Traditional space companies – Established aerospace corporations that customers could turn to over a new space entrant.
• Adjacent technologies – For example, terrestrial wireless internet vs. satellite internet; airborne observation vs. space-based remote sensing.
• In-house solutions – Large enterprises that could elect to develop proprietary internal solutions rather than procuring from a startup.

Conduct a SWOT Analysis

With your competitor research completed, conduct an internal SWOT analysis examining your startup’s:

• Strengths – What do you do better than competitors? What are your advantages?
• Weaknesses – Where do competitors have an edge over you? What are your disadvantages?
• Opportunities – What potential opportunities in the market are not addressed well by competitors?
• Threats – Which competitors pose the greatest threat? What strategies or offerings could disrupt you?

Use this SWOT framework to analyze your competitive positioning and inform how you differentiate from alternatives.

Map the Competitive Landscape

Visually map out the competitive landscape using charts:

• Market map – Position competitors based on market segment served and product type. Identify white space opportunities.
• Capability map – Chart competitors based on their technical capabilities and maturity. Find areas you can lead.
• Funding map – Show competitors by funding stage and total capital raised. Identify vulnerable startups.
• Value chain map – Illustrate the industry value chain and locate where competitors play. Spot gaps or bottlenecks.

Define Your Competitive Strategy

With a data-driven understanding of the competition, you can define your competitive strategy. Ask critical questions like:

• How will we differentiate from competitors? What is our unique value proposition?
• Which competitors are we most directly competing with? How will we win against them?
• Which market segments or needs are underserved by current competitors?
• How can we leverage our strengths and capabilities relative to alternatives?
• How vulnerable or threatened are certain competitors based on their funding, tech maturity, or market position?
• Who are the most likely partners we could align with? Who will see us as competition to avoid?

Track Competitors Over Time

Competitive analysis is not a one-time effort. To stay on top of this dynamic industry, you need to continually track competitors by:

• Setting Google News alerts on key competitors to monitor news mentions.
• Following leadership and company social media accounts to observe announcements and activities.
• Attending industry events and trade shows to interact with competitors and learn firsthand.
• Subscribing to competitor company blogs or email newsletters.
• Monitoring SEC filings, fundraising databases, and patent filings for new information.
• Searching for leadership changes, new partnerships, product launches, job postings, and other updates.
• Interviewing customers, partners, and industry experts to get their perspective on evolving competitive dynamics.

Revisit Your Strategy

Re-evaluate your competitive strategy every 6 to 12 months. Competitors will enter and exit the market, raise new rounds of funding, form key partnerships, and release new products. Continuously revisiting your competitive intelligence allows you to adapt your strategy as the industry evolves.

Leverage Competitive Intelligence

Integrate your competitive analysis into business strategy and planning across functions:

• Product – Understand feature gaps relative to competitors and where to differentiate.
• Marketing – Position against competitors and tailor messaging to your strengths.
• Sales – Train sales teams on competitors to win deals. Provide battle cards for competitive scenarios.
• Partnerships – Identify partnership opportunities based on competitor ecosystem analysis.
• Engineering – Focus technical resources on capabilities where competitors are lacking.
• Investors – Demonstrate market opportunity and your competitive advantage.

Ongoing competitive intelligence provides strategic insights as you navigate the dynamic space economy landscape.

Summary

For new space economy startups, thoroughly understanding the competitive landscape is critical. Following a structured approach to identify competitors, assess their strengths and weaknesses, analyze your positioning, define a competitive strategy, and continuously track competition will provide the insights needed to make strategic decisions and compete successfully in this emerging market.