TECHNOLOGY INTELLIGENCE REPORT...Technology Intelligence Report | Commercial Manned Spaceflight 8 •erest in human-enablement Int in space is growing: astronaut tools and on-orbit

ED WHITE, VICE PRESIDENT, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION INTELLIGENCE

TECHNOLOGY INTELLIGENCE REPORT COMMERCIAL MANNED SPACEFLIGHT

It’s rocket science How manned spaceflight is the new frontier of innovation

Technology Intelligence Report | Commercial Manned Spaceflight 2

CPA Global is the world’s leading Intellectual Property

management and technology company.

Trusted by many of the world’s most respected corporations and law firms, CPA Global empowers a global community to achieve excellence in IP management.

We support the day-to-day delivery of IP functions and provide the right information at the right time, enabling professionals to make better IP decisions for the future.

Our integrated suite of IP software, services and information is underpinned by an outstanding global team of IP people.

For further information please contact us at [email protected] or visit us online at cpaglobal.com.

ABOUT CPA GLOBAL


Executive Summary 4

Key Findings 6

- Patents through the Space Era 9

- What is the Private Sector Investing In? 10

- How Important is IP in Commercial Manned Spaceflight? 11

Collection Summary 12

- Summary Patent Activity 12

- Activity Timeline 13

- Geographic Activity 14

- Geographic Distribution 15

- Commercial Spaceflight Patents 16

Commercial Analysis 17

- Major Active Entities 17

- Entity Timeline 19

- Applicant Activity Focus 20

- Emerging Entities 21

- Current US Commercial Space Launch Entities 22

- SpaceX vs. Blue Origin...Musk vs. Bezos 23

- Summary Commercial Findings 24

Technical Analysis 25

- Technology Trends 26

- Emerging Technologies 27

- Commercial vs. Government Focus: Historical 28

- Commercial vs. Government Focus: United States - Last Decade 29

- Inter-Technology Patented Innovation: Hot Spot Analysis 31

- Entities by Technology (1) 32

- Entities by Technology (2) 33

Conclusion 34

About the Author 35

TABLE OF CONTENTS


The world of intellectual property (IP) and patents in particular, can be seen as arcane and complex. In reality studying IP and patents can help discover key technology trends across complex industries.

In this report CPA Global, the

world’s leading Intellectual

Property management and

technology company, applies an

analysis of patent information

to uncover intelligence within

the specific industry sector of

manned spaceflight.

This sector has seen incredible

technical advancements and

fundamental, systemic changes

as the private sector enters

commercial spaceflight.

Less than 600 people have left

planet earth since Yuri Gagarin

made his historic first orbits in

1961. The mission of commercial

spaceflight is to increase this

number by making access to

space cheaper, safer and more

common.

It is notable that to date, no-one

has ridden a private space vehicle

into orbit. That fact is likely to

change in the next 5-10 years.

While the commercialization

of manned spaceflight will be

available to the general public

– the largest customer is still

likely to be government entities,

such as the Commercial Crew

Development Program underway

at NASA that is funding private

businesses such as Boeing,

SpaceX and Blue Origin to

develop new vehicles.

If mankind is to return to the

moon, or fly to Mars, the chances

are that astronauts will do so

in vehicles developed by a

much wider and diverse group

of innovators than previous

generations of vehicles.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


This report covers who these innovators are, what they are developing and where the opportunities for commercial advantage lie.

This report details the

fundamental shift in the US

space industry – a change from

corporate entities such as the

Boeing Company supplying

components and building

spacecraft to NASA or DOD

specifications, to corporations

developing and specifying the

mission, vehicles and underlying

technologies.

The nature of this shift surrounds

next generation versions of

space launch technologies and

increasing focus on the activities

of astronauts themselves once

in space, and less expensive yet

safer methods of getting them

there in the first place.

This report explores the nature

of intellectual property rights

in manned spaceflight and how

those rights compare to the

aviation industry in general. This

report also reviews the various

intellectual property strategies

of the launch providers at the

forefront of manned spaceflight

and looks at the way that patent

activity maps closely to the

technical and commercial insights

that are widely known.

Patents are a unique source of

data that reliably and accurately

links commerce and technology.

This report shows how you

can exploit patent data to get

powerful, usable and sharable

intelligence.


• Manned spaceflight patent

activity is much larger and

diverse than one would

anticipate. While it’s difficult

to calculate, we estimate that

there are over 17,000 manned

spaceflight inventions that

have been patented since the

early 1960s.

• Patent filings are trending

sharply upwards, particularly

since China’s entry into the

crewed space race. China’s

first astronaut, Yang Liwei,

flew aboard the Shenzhou

5 space craft on October 15,

2003, making China the third

country in the world with a

manned spaceflight program.

• The filing trend is also due to

increasing patent activity by

private launch providers in the

United States – where a clear

transition from the public to

private sector is currently

underway.

• The US, China and Russia,

each with active manned

spaceflight programs,

represent three-fifths of all

patent filings.

• Other countries, including

Japan, represent only 5%

of the patent activity that’s

occurred in the last 5 years.

• The National Aeronautics

and Space Administration

(NASA) is the top applicant

of manned spaceflight patent

rights. However, our analysis

shows that securing patent

protection is not a core

strategy of the agency.

• Boeing in the United States

and Energia in Russia, both of

which are major contractors

to the US and Russian space

programs, are the largest

patent applicants.

• Airbus in Europe is also filing,

but in a more limited manner.

KEY FINDINGS


• Chinese patent filings,

though large in volume, are

generally limited to academic

institutions which likely means

that commercial interests in

the Chinese program is very

small.

• Emerging private entities

include Microsoft, French-

engine manufacturer Safran,

US defence contractor Harris

Corporation and Blue Origin –

a private spaceflight company

founded by Amazon founder

and CEO, Jeff Bezos.

• Blue Origin is one of a number

of firms to have received $25M

in US government funding via

the Commercial Crew Program

(CCP).

• SpaceX has been awarded

$3.1 billion in CCP funding,

reflecting its supply contracts

for the International Space

Station.

• The SpaceX “no-IP” strategy

was recently tested by Blue

Origin’s patent for sea-based

soft landing systems for launch

vehicles. This technology

enables booster rockets to

be reused, which significantly

lowers launch costs. This

patent was subsequently held

to be invalid.

• So far, SpaceX has successfully

navigated the IP minefield,

but considering the volume

of information included in this

study, it is likely that this test

will not be the last.

• The more “rocket science”

technologies of propulsion,

spacecraft design and launch

systems are only a proportion

of the technologies from

an IP perspective. Primary

concentrations of patent

protection technology occur in

guidance, control systems, life

support and vehicle docking

systems.

KEY FINDINGS cont’d.


• Interest in human-enablement

in space is growing:

astronaut tools and on-orbit

manipulators, astronaut

training and simulation aids,

spacecraft tracking and

observation technologies

are high growth areas. In

aggregate, these topics

suggest increasingly complex

tasks that astronauts are

performing once they are in

space.

• Vehicle launch and propulsion

systems exhibit high levels

of strategic IP Innovation in

these fields, enabling cheaper,

safer access to space.

• Where once the space

industry was driven by

being a partner and supplier

to government-run space

programs, the industry is

now generating innovation

to shape future space

exploration directly.

• The current focus on

astronaut capabilities and

cheaper access to space all

point to the fact that human

spaceflight is maturing rapidly

and is being driven by the

private sector.

KEY FINDINGS cont’d.


PATENTS THROUGH THE SPACE ERA

• In the United States, a

fundamental shift has

occurred in technical

innovation supporting the

astronaut program.

• NASA was the primary source

of patented innovation, but

private industry is now the

main source of innovation.

• This patent trend goes hand

in hand with the increasing

presence of the private

sector in manned spaceflight

innovation.


WHAT IS THE PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTING IN?

• The shift to private sector

manned spaceflight has seen

a reversal of technical focus.

• Industry supported

government programs

by supplying parts and

components (guidance,

electronics, life support etc.),

but commerce is now fully

engaged in the development

of “core” space technologies

of propulsion and spacecraft

design.

• Commerce is also focusing

on empowering astronauts to

do more in space – through

training aids, simulators and

in-orbit tools.


HOW IMPORTANT IS IP IN COMMERCIAL MANNED SPACEFLIGHT?

• A comparable industry is

commercial aviation – a sector that

has seen an increase in patent filing

from entities such as Airbus, Boeing

and Bombardier.

• Companies competing in the

commercial manned spaceflight

market appear to be placing more

emphasis on IP rights than their

aerospace counterparts. This is

based on the following four factors:

1. Applicants commitment in

securing IP rights (granted

and active patents);

2. CPA Global’s PatentStrength™

score;

3. Geographic breadth of

patent protection (proxy for

investment in IP rights); and

4. Number of forward patent

citations (a proxy for impact).


COLLECTION SUMMARYSUMMARY PATENT ACTIVITY

• Innovation related to the

transportation of human

crew into orbit (and beyond)

is an active field of patent

protection.

• Our data collection contains

4,320 inventions that have been

registered with patent offices

around the world, related to

technologies to get people into

orbit.

• Key topics for research and

technical improvement relate

to launching a spacecraft,

controlling it, propulsion and

maintaining a life-sustaining

environment on-board.

• However, these topics are now

giving way to those that help

astronauts do more once they

are in orbit – patent volumes in

training aids, simulators, tools

and observation innovations are

growing rapidly.


ACTIVITY TIMELINE

• The pace of patent protection

activity is accelerating.

• During 1960s, 70s and

early 80s activity was light

– this era was dominated

by government space

programmes where

commercial entities (those

most likely to want to achieve

the commercial benefits of

a patent right) were simply

subcontractors.

• In 1987, a new phase of

activity began with NASA’s

large-scale patenting

of manned spaceflight

innovations.

• Patent filings remained at

a similar level for the next

twenty years until 2007, when

growth in patent applications

began to increase rapidly.


GEOGRAPHIC ACTIVITY

• Three countries have sent people

into space: The United States,

Russia and China.

• These three countries stand out

for the significant increase in

patent activity. However, patent

activity in China has grown

particularly quickly.

• 93% of Chinese patent filings

occurred after 2003, the year

China sent its first taikonaut into

orbit.

• Other trends include a large

historical volume of patents

from Japan, and recent low level

activity from South Korea.

– Primary patent protection nations include three with current manned spaceflight programs - The United States, Russia and China.

– Japan has a high number of patents filed, although only a small proportion have been registered since 2012.

– China has seen a large scale increase in patent activity, with the most registered since 2003, the date of China’s first crewed mission, Shenzhou 5, that launched the taikonaut, Yang Liwei.

– South Korea has also seen growing patent activity, although two-thirds of this is from non-Korean applicants protecting IP in this country.


GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION

• The three nations with active

human spaceflight programs

have registered 60% of all

patent filings.

• Chinese patent activity since

2003 has jumped from the

8th largest location of manned

spaceflight patent protection

to the 2nd largest position.

• China is also the single most

prolific protection location in

terms of patents filed per year:

- In 2014, 148 manned

spaceflight patents

were filed in China, in

comparison to just 40 in

the United States.

- The vast majority of

these patents were filed

by Chinese academic

institutions.


COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT PATENTS

• Since patent filings from

NASA collapsed in 1994,

the US private sector has

experienced prolific patent

activity.

• Recent data suggests that a

retrenchment in commercial

spaceflight is currently

underway.

• Technical innovation in crewed

space vehicles is being passed

from government entities

to corporate entities with

commercial interests.

Commercial Manned Spaceflight | Technology Intelligence Report 17

COMMERCIAL ANALYSISMAJOR ACTIVE ENTITIES

• NASA is the top applicant of

manned spaceflight patent rights:

- However, very little of

NASA’s patenting activity

is recent and only a small

proportion of their patents

remains in force. Being a

government organization, IP

protection is not a core to

their success.

• Government space program

contractors Boeing (United

States) and Energia (Russia)

currently represent the largest

patent applicants.

• Chinese patent filings are

generally limited to academic

institutions:

- This raises questions about

the commercial viability

of Chinese IP rights in the

manned spaceflight sector.

• Japanese electronics and heavy

industry corporations have patent

portfolios available:

- Indicates supply chain

ecosystem extending to

Japan.


MAJOR ACTIVE ENTITIES cont’d.

– The top patent applicant in manned spaceflight is the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), although just 18% of its filed patents remain in force and only 9% have been filed in the last 5 years.

– Major US and Russian space and aerospace contractors show high levels of activity with both large and active portfolios: Boeing (US), Energia (Russia) and to a lesser extent Airbus (EU).

– China tops applicants overall. These are primarily academic institutions: Beihang University and the Harbin Institute of Technology.


ENTITY TIMELINE

• NASA IP filing was at its peak

during the space shuttle era in the

1980s.

• Boeing and Energia’s patent

filings are more recent, and

illustrates the shift in innovation

from the government to the

private sector.

• The activity of Japanese firms

– Toshiba, MHI, NEC, IHI – is

concentrated in the late 1980s

and early 1990s, with little activity

in the last decade.

• General Motors patent filings are

due to its acquisition of Hughes

Aircraft in 1987.

- These assets have now

almost completely lapsed,

rendering the recent

corporate development

of the Hughes entities

somewhat moot.

– Boeing, Energia and Airbus are the primary current patent applicants, alongside Beihang University and the Harbin Institute of Technology in China.

– Major Japanese Corporations Toshiba, MHI and NEC have essentially exited the space industry.

– Timeline extends from 1960 to 2014, the most recent year of complete data (as measured by the filing date of the patent application).


APPLICANT ACTIVITY FOCUS

• A review of the technical focus of

the major applicants shows highly

diverse portfolios.

• Major concentrations include:

- Japanese organizational

interest in guidance, control

and navigation innovation;

- Airbus and Northrop

Grumman’s concentration in

spacecraft designs;

- NASA’s focus on docking

systems, in preparation for

use by the Space Shuttle’s

International Space Station

program; and

- Energia’s patent activity

concentration on life support

systems.

• Boeing has likely the most diverse

portfolio, indicating strength in

depth.

Proportion of activity by applicant within each technical field. Note due to overlap sum may exceed 100%.


EMERGING ENTITIES

• A model to identify interesting

recent entrants to the field is used

to add context to the list of major

applicants since the 1960s.

• Entities which have both

protected their IP rights in

multiple territories (x-axis, proxy

for investment level) and have a

high proportion of activity filed

in the last 5 years (y-axis) are

annotated.

• Identifies Microsoft, French-

engine manufacturer Safran,

Harris Corporation (a US defense

contractor) and Blue Origin

(a private spaceflight company

founded by Jeff Bezos, founder

and CEO of Amazon.com).

• Blue Origin is one of a number of

firms that have received funding

from the US government via the

Commercial Crew Program.

– The analysis reveals the convergence of high levels of recent activity and above-average levels (for this technology space) of geographic patent protection (bubble size reflects volume).

– The latter is strongly linked to investment levels and thus a flag for strategic IP.


CURRENT US COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH ENTITIES

• A list of entities that are active in

private manned spaceflight are

analysed separately for patent

activity.

• The most successful, Elon

Musk’s SpaceX, has no patent

rights at all. Indeed, Mr. Musk is

on record as pursuing a trade

secret approach to technology

development and protection.

• SpaceX has highly developed

technology and an active

program of supply flights to the

International Space Station (ISS).

• Bigelow Aerospace has

conducted on-orbit tests of its

crew habitats, including the April

2016 flight of an expandable

module to the ISS.

• Blue Origin is focused to date

on reducing the cost of access

to orbit through soft landing

and re-use of launch vehicles

– something SpaceX is also

pursuing.


SPACEX vs. BLUE ORIGIN…MUSK vs. BEZOS

• SpaceX’s no-registered IP

policy had its first test due

to a patent of Blue Origin’s

concerning powered soft

landing of launch vehicles at

sea.

• Overall, the powered landing

of launchers seeks to hugely

reduce the cost of access to

space.

• Using legal procedures at

the US Patent Office, SpaceX

successfully removed this

patent threat, though it is

notable that Blue Origin’s

patent likely covered activities

and technologies that SpaceX

wishes to use.

• These procedures are not

yet fully complete, and

therefore it will be interesting

to see how this first foray

into legal procedure in the

next generation manned

spaceflight industry evolves.


• The top applicant of manned

spaceflight patent rights

is NASA, as would be

expected. However, analysis

of its activity shows that IP

protection is not currently a

core strategy of the agency.

• Instead, major contractors

for the US and Russian space

programs represent the

largest current applicants,

Boeing in the US and Energia

in Russia.

• Airbus is also present, though

in a more limited manner

to Boeing, and with no EU

manned spaceflight program,

its commercial interests and

revenues are more limited.

• Chinese representation in the

list of applicants, though large

in volume across the entire

patent ecosystem, is limited

to academic institutions

which means that commercial

interests in the Chinese

program is very small.

• Emerging entities include

Microsoft, French-engine

manufacturer Safran, Harris

Corporation (a US defense

contractor) and Blue Origin

(a private spaceflight

company founded by Jeff

Bezos, founder and CEO of

Amazon.com).

• Blue Origin is one of a

number of firms that have

received funding from the

US government via the

Commercial Crew Program

(CCP) – to date the firm has

received just over $25m.

• Other recipients of funding

under the CCP include

SpaceX (to date awarded

$3.1 billion in CCP funding,

reflecting its contracts to

supply the International

Space Station).

• SpaceX follows a

“no-IP” strategy – reflected

in this study as no patent

applications or granted

patents were found for the

company.

SUMMARY COMMERCIAL FINDINGS


• Designing craft that can take

humans into the unforgiving

environment of space is

challenging – the epitome of

“rocket science”.

• However, the rockets

themselves are only a

proportion of the technology

involved, indeed they are not

the highest volume fields in

terms of patents filed.

• Instead, primary

concentrations occur in

guiding and controlling

these vehicles, maintaining a

life supporting environment

on-board and docking

systems allowing astronauts

to disembark while on orbit.

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

– Largest volume technology sectors are: guidance, life support and atmospheric regulation, docking systems and propulsion.

– New, lower volume fields include astronaut training and simulation technologies, on-orbit tools, and manipulators and spacecraft tracking/observation innovations.


• High level trends across the 11

topics (note normalised axes) show

growing interest in a more diverse

group of technologies, in particular

astronaut tools and on-orbit

manipulators, astronaut training and

simulation aids, spacecraft tracking

and observation technologies.

• These topics surround the

increasingly complex tasks that

astronauts are performing once

in space – for example, the

construction and operation of the

ISS.

• Tracking and observation

technologies (monitoring spacecraft

on orbit, or detecting debris or

threats to the craft) are related to

this increasing complexity.

• It is notable, however, that these

overall trends run somewhat counter

to the focus of companies such as

SpaceX and Blue Origin on revised,

innovative launch and propulsion

systems, indicating multiple axes of

innovation for manned spaceflight.

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS


• These counter-trends are

evident when an emerging

technology model is applied.

• No technical field can be

described as both high

investment and young.

• Three sectors, launch, propulsion

systems and power supplies,

do exhibit high levels of

“strategic” IP.

• Launch and propulsion

innovation maps closely to the

focus of SpaceX and Blue Origin

and points to a 2nd phase of

R&D occurring in these sectors.

• Innovation in these topics would

enable cheaper, safer access to

space for human beings, which

when considered in conjunction

with increased capability once

there (training, tools, etc.), paints

an optimistic picture for future

manned spaceflight.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

– The analysis assesses the convergence between high levels of recent activity and above average (for this technology space) levels of geographic patent protection; bubble size reflects overall volume.

– The latter is strongly linked to investment levels and thus a flag for strategic IP.

– Technologies that exhibit high levels of both metrics are therefore identified as “emergent”: recent increases in patent output in a strong and committed manner by any applicant. This is particularly useful assessing trends in low volume technologies.


• The split between government

and private sector patent

innovation across the entire

space era shows historical

commercial interests in 8

out of 11 topics, in particular

guidance, docking, launch

and power supply fields, with

less emphasis on propulsion

systems and astronaut

operations (training and tools).

• The profile suggests (and

indeed history proves) that

the space industry was a

partner and supplier to

the government run space

programs – components

and parts were the focus,

while critical systems such as

propulsion were developed in

house.

COMMERCIAL vs. GOVERNMENT FOCUS: HISTORICAL

– Review of the concentration of commercial activity by technical field or spacecraft design attribute.

– Annotation is a comparison to collection-wide average of commercial versus non-commercial spaceflight patent activity.

– Evidence of commercial specialisms in component manufacture (guidance, docking, power, launch systems, tracking).

– Note time frame is entire spaceflight era, 1960 to present.

Commercial Manned Spaceflight | Technology Intelligence Report 29

• Focusing on the present day and

just within the US, this “supplier”

profile for the private sector is

almost completely reversed.

• Now, commerce is focused on

propulsion, spacecraft design,

astronaut operations (training

and tools), with significantly less

emphasis on the component

technologies.

• The trends shown on previous

pages – focus on astronaut

capabilities, SpaceX/Blue Origin-

led focus on cheaper access to

orbit – are evident in this analysis

and can be considered at this

point confirmed.

• The maturation of human

spaceflight is underway, enabled

by the increasing independence

and engagement of the private

sector.

COMMERCIAL vs. GOVERNMENT FOCUS: UNITED STATES – LAST DECADE


– Review of the concentration of commercial activity by technical field or spacecraft design attribute.

– Annotation is a comparison to collection-wide average of commercial versus non-commercial spaceflight patent activity.

– Previous evidence of focus on components is reversed. Focus is now on major facets including propulsion, spacecraft design, astronaut training and on-orbit tools.

– Note time frame is 2006 patent applications onwards and only those in the United States.

COMMERCIAL vs. GOVERNMENT FOCUS: UNITED STATES – LAST DECADE cont’d.

% Filed by Commercial Entity


• Gaps remain ready to be

exploited.

• The intersection of the study’s

technology fields shows the

volume of protection across

the subdivisions. These are

particularly evident in the

“astronaut enablement” sectors

(training and tools).

• Little, if any, IP exists in the

fields of training and simulation

aids for on-orbit tools.

Training systems are only

concentrated in life support,

indicating a current focus on

safety technologies.

• The hot topics are propulsion

and launch. These are fields in

which commercial interests are

currently switching attention

to, indicating a second wave

of potentially disruptive

innovation.

INTER-TECHNOLOGY PATENTED INNOVATION: HOT SPOT ANALYSIS


• Each of the topics measured

in this study are reviewed here

for the major patent applicants

within them.

• Mostly, this reflects the overall

major applicants, though

deviations from this (non-major

applicants in the top 5 on a per

topic basis) are noted.

• Additionally, entities with

strategic patents in the

topic are also noted, though

their volume of protection may

be light.

ENTITIES BY TECHNOLOGY (1)


• The inclusion of several

Chinese academic institutions

in the astronaut training sector

is notable.

• The Canadian Space Agency

(CSA) is involved in activity in

on-orbit tools:

- This reflects the fact that

the CSA has specialised

in supplying NASA for

many years with robot

arms for its Space Shuttle

and the Mobile Servicing

System, currently

on-board the ISS is

supplied by the CSA and

known colloquially as

“Canadarm2”.

ENTITIES BY TECHNOLOGY (2)


This report is brought to you from our Innovation Intelligence Services group.

Ideas have always changed the world, but the pace of change has never been more explosive. CPA Global’s Innovation Intelligence Services group produces commercial insight and powerful intelligence to help you successfully navigate the ever-changing technology ecosystem in which your business operates.

For additional information visit: cpaglobal.com/innovation-intelligence-services

CONCLUSION


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ed WhiteVice President, Technology and Innovation Intelligence London, United Kingdom

Ed leads the Technology Intelligence practice at CPA Global. He has 10 years

of experience as a manager and consultant within innovation intelligence and

intellectual property.

Ed has a background in developing new communication methods for advanced

statistical analysis of R&D activity, including patent strength measurement, scoring

algorithms and harmonization of patent and non-patent data sources.

Ed has worked with hundreds of different client organisations across almost all

R&D intensive industries, delivering to Fortune 500 board members, government

agency heads and ministers and CTOs/General Counsels. He has a Bachelor of

Engineering from the University of Nottingham in the UK.

© CPA GLOBAL 2016

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TECHNOLOGY INTELLIGENCE REPORT...Technology Intelligence Report | Commercial Manned Spaceflight 8 •erest in human-enablement Int in space is growing: astronaut tools and on-orbit