Space technology transfer: a systematic literature review

Technology transfer has been shown to stimulate innovation in business and commerce, support economic growth and provide a return on public investment in R&D. This is particularly true for space technologies characterized by a very high innovative value and production in small quantities. The aim of this paper is to systematically review the space technology transfer literature and to suggest directions for future research. The transfer of space technology has been studied by academic researchers, managers of space agencies and government ministry officials. The range of studies calls for a systematic review of the literature aimed at synthesizing the findings from individual studies or reports in an unbiased manner, so as to present a balanced and impartial summary and to interpret the findings in a way that highlights the research gaps in this important field of research. This paper presents an overview of the dominant thinking (made explicit in the selected articles) from the 1995 until today, indicating problems of analysis, research gaps and a future research agenda.