EarlyBirds, a company focused on promoting innovation between companies, has published an article about the need for innovations in the space industry. The space industry is witnessing significant investment by large companies and government agencies which means there is lots of room for innovation. Additionally, national and local governments around the world are creating policy initiatives to strengthen efforts to create new capabilities and services for this rapidly growing industry. The space industry has indeed long been known for innovation, being the birthplace of many inventions that we take for granted today. Some things that were invented by the space industry in pursuit of space exploration include solar cells for solar power, freeze dried foods, 3D printing and much more. New innovations are already flowing out of the recent wave of initiatives supporting the space industry, but the industry itself is also in need of innovation.

​The need for innovation in the Space industry is driven by such factors as declining launch costs, advances in technology, and many reports suggesting investing in the space industry and calling it the next trillion dollar industry. The OECD has cited three major drivers for innovation in the space industry, which are the persistence of national security and science objectives, the advancement of downstream space applications, and the pursuit of human space exploration. As space technologies converge with digital technologies, transformation is likely to occur at an industrial level, bringing changes and improvements to processes, products, services, and business models. Many companies will be interested in taking advantage of new opportunities that arise out of this innovation, so they can be increasingly competitive on the global market and more able to respond to the future needs of society.

A shared challenge for both private sector and government space industry programs is to find the innovations they need to drive the outcomes to their programs. Many of the capabilities these companies will need have already been built and are commercially available, or new partnerships can be formed to aid the creation of new frameworks for innovation. Navigating complex industries like the space industry is a specialty of EarlyBirds, which offers a unique Open Innovation Ecosystem to help large companies from a variety of industries connect with innovators who have already built solutions to their problems. EarlyBirds also created their Explorer Program, which addresses enterprise wide innovation, and the Challenger Program which was designed to help companies solve one problem or seize one opportunity at a time.

EarlyBirds’ platform, which can be found at earlybirds.io, helps companies find innovation solutions that work for them, and lets them solve their challenges with actionable innovations from a variety of innovators. The platforms connect organizations that innovate, companies that are interested in being early adopters of new innovations, and subject matter experts who operate as consultants to both innovators and early adopters who need extra support in their innovation work. Early Adopters are able to continuously improve across all parts of their business by adopting new technology that helps their programs and systems operate more efficiently. They can also use the platform to explore disruptive business models that could allow them to make sweeping changes to their business to reach even greater heights.

In addition to the space industry, EarlyBirds serves a number of other industries where companies are interested in innovation, including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrency. With over four million innovators already on their platform, EarlyBirds is ready to help space industry companies from around the world find the innovative solutions they need for their business challenges. Anyone who is interested in learning more about the opportunities available through EarlyBirds can visit their website, where they will find loads of information about how EarlyBirds connects companies, and ways to find innovators to help companies solve their problems. Companies looking for investment opportunities may also be interested in using their platforms to find startups doing interesting work that they might want to invest in.