4. Conclusion – opportunities in a new paradigm

New Space was actually born in 1994, when French researchers came up with the idea of using consumer equipment in a lunar probe. The Clementine probe, whose payload was designed by Professor Jacques-Emile Blamont, introduced – in cooperation with NASA – the principle of reverse spin-off. The principle is exactly the opposite of spin-off, and is referred to as spin-in. In spin-off, sophisticated space technologies are used for terrestrial applications. In spin-in, consumer technologies find applications in space. This offers benefits in terms of hybridization, series production and public qualification. It has taken more than fifteen years for this idea to materialize on a large scale. We are now seeing convergences between new-economy ground transportation technologies and the architecture of new launchers.

This convergence is also accompanied by a rebalancing between...