Final Project
OVERVIEW
For the final project, you will apply the economic knowledge you have gained in the course to develop a case analysis for introducing a product or service into the marketplace. Choose a company (SPACE X) and suggest a product or service that could be provided by that company. As a senior analyst for the company, assess the market for the product or service. Identify the market structure the firm operates within. Who are the firm’s competitors? What are the characteristics of consumer demand? What are the factors that affect consumer demand? How do the actions of the Federal Reserve bank and the federal government affect the market in which the firm competes?
GUIDELINES
You will complete your final project paper in three steps. The following are the requirements for each step.
Please consult the Course Calendar for the due date for each step.
Select a Company (SELECTED): “SpaceX is a California-based company that develops, builds, and launches space rockets and vehicles. Elon Musk established the company in 2002. Along with SpaceX, its major innovations are the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles, the Dragon spacecraft made under NASA contracts, and Starlink internet service through a global satellite network (Muegge, 2019). SpaceX has been concentrating on rocket reusability to reduce the costs of flights to space in order to create a more affordable venture. Additionally, the company is taking the benefits of big-scale and platform tactics to compete with the traditional providers who have not yet modernized their business (Ansar, 2022).
SpaceX is a cost leader in the space launch market and is one of the driving forces behind next-generation space launch systems, making economic, environmental, and security concerns more prominent in general (Bauervic, 2020). The company has pioneered the evolution of the launch market and has attempted to monetize the evolution of the launch sector via satellite broadband. Along with lowering the prices of rocket launches, SpaceX has also launched a new product, Starlink, which is a broadband internet service obtainable globally via a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites (Patel, 2021). With the radical move of the commercial satellite industry to multi-orbit constellations, SpaceX has good ambitions and has long had a dominant grip on the satellite industry-shaping space for the next decade (Khan, 2023).
The fixed costs associated with satellite broadband are high, which results in significant economies of scale and network effects, making barriers to market entry large, so the market has fewer challenges, leaning more towards an oligopoly or even a natural monopoly in some niches (Longhu, 2024). SpaceX has a competitive moat through the continual ability to funnel launch savings back into satellite deployments. The company is actually engaged in competition by offering low rates, high reliability, and a vertically integrated model (launch + vehicle manufacture + satellite service), which makes it difficult for competitors to enter horizontally.
In essence, SpaceX is a major player that furnishes high-tech launch and satellite solutions in a market that has certain features, such as being controlled by big firms, the presence of entry barriers, and considerable scale/network benefits. The company disorients the conventional aerospace industry by lowering the costs and widening the services, hence, not only strengthening its leading market position but also changing the industry’s underlying supply-side economics.”
- Final Paper: Complete the final project paper by expanding your draft paper with more details. It includes a detailed description of the following: the company and its products and services, its competitors, the product or service you would like to introduce, the characteristics of consumer demand, factors that affect consumer demand, and the effects of the Federal Reserve bank policy and federal government policy on the company. The final paper should be 12 to 15 pages in length (3600 to 4125 words), excluding the title page and reference section. It must include at least 8 references in APA format and it may include the following sections. (DUE FRIDAY DECEMBER 7TH)
- A title page
- Executive summary
- Possible sections of the paper are:
- Introduction
- Factors affecting demand
- Factors affecting supply
- Analysis of current fiscal policy
- Analysis of current monetary policy
- Conclusion
- References
