Virgin Galactic: Rulers of the Universe?

On Tuesday February 20, US Based Virgin Galactic signed an agreement with Silicon Valley based NASA. The agreement has set terms for the cooperative development of new space technologies including space suits, heat shields, hybrid rocket motors and hypersonic vehicles capable of travelling five times the speed of sound or more.

This cooperative agreement may see Virgin Galactic operate as a monopoly, which is unusual for the Virgin Group. Virgin's Richard Branson has often won publicity by being the underdog in a competitive battle. In this case it appears as though the group will have considerable market power at least during the agreement phase, which is set to last for 2 years.

Although this is a public/ private partnership it demonstrates how private enterprise can benefit by analysing strengths and weaknesses and partnering accordingly. On a smaller scale entrepreneurs may consider specialising in a niche and partnering to fill the void. If you don't get out much, consider joining the Ryze.com or Linkldn.com network. A basic membership is free and might place you in touch with like minded people.