The Path to Market: Customers, Contracts, and Commercial Scale
The space industry produces extraordinary technology, but technical success does not guarantee a sustainable company. Scaling requires a customer, a repeatable problem, a workable buying pathway, and revenue beyond a demonstration award. This panel examines the transition from innovation to market. Panelists will explore how startups identify customers, validate demand, navigate government procurement, work with primes and integrators, and convert research grants or prototype programs into recurring contracts. The conversation will distinguish users from buyers, interest from budget, and market projections from accessible near-term revenue. It will address pricing, sales cycles, capital strategy, manufacturing readiness, compliance, partnerships, and customers outside traditional aerospace. Government and commercial buyers will discuss what earns their confidence, while growth-stage leaders will share where companies stall. Attendees will leave with an understanding of who pays for emerging space capabilities—and the business, procurement, and execution disciplines required to build companies that survive beyond initial innovation.
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