Sidereal entrepreneurs and semi-periphery: Privatization of space in Argentina

Abstract

This study aims to examine the geopolitics of entrepreneurship in Argentina’s private space sector, taking as a reference the cases of Satellogic and LIA Aerospace. What motivates the selection of these two companies? First, because they are both companies of Argentine origin – one dedicated to the manufacture of satellites and the other to the development of a rocket launcher. Second, because they have achieved different levels of success, either in the technological or commercial field. From a methodological approach, these cases were chosen recognizing that there are other companies in the sector, but they are considered representative of the capabilities of the private sector in the space industry. In advanced economies, space entrepreneurship has a dynamism that allows it to compete in national and international markets. On the other hand, in semi-peripheral countries, it is common for these developments to lose ties with the local productive and scientific ecosystem, seeking to expand in central markets that offer opportunities that do not exist in their countries of origin.