How space contribute and benefits the Global Economy: a review of the industry through a risk profile analysis of the Italian Leonardo SpA.

Abstract

The Space Economy in the last years has been at the center of numerous national and international debates. The programs of the most important International Space Agencies, combined with the increasing investments of private individuals and companies, are changing the way through which the society perceive the space: not anymore as an unknown field still to be discovered, but as a new market for commercial operations, with huge potential benefits in multiple sectors. Over the past 10 years, the space sector has been undergoing a major transformation under various aspects. First of all, the subjects involved in the value-creation network of the industry have increased and above all they are no longer the same as in previous decades: many private companies and private investors are entering the business, realizing that in addition to simple observation and scientific research, space can create great benefits in other fields as well. This change in the characteristics of the industry is the consequence of various components. The most important driver of this mutation of the industry is the incredible progress made in the technological field for the support of space devices. The combination of these two great forces: the greater investments of private companies and technological advances (which often and willingly are at the same time both cause and effect of the other), has ensured that the fields in which the direct and indirect support of space technologies have increased dramatically. This thesis aims thus to analyze the space industry, focusing on its mutation in recent years and above all on the economic benefits that the industry brings directly and indirectly to various sectors of the global economy. Aa a supporting analysis, a particular focus is then given to the financial risk analysis of Leonardo SpA, an Italian multinational with a full branch dedicated to the space industry.