 Monopolistic Competition in a Limited Orbital SpacePost-Print from HAL Abstract: In a context of intense competition for access to the Earth's orbit, we study a model of monopolistic competition in which satellites operators diversify the variety of satellite services. We put this in perspective with the accumulation of in-orbit fragment debris and the risk it poses for the sustainability of orbital activity. Monopolistic competition leads to a sub-optimal outcome, in terms of both the number of satellites in orbit and the range of services offered. We show that monopolistic competition results in excessive orbit congestion, when Earth's orbit carrying capacity is low and/or consumers' preference for diversity is low, and always leads to an insufficient number of satellite services being offered. However, a strong consumers' preference for service diversity, as it increases the market power of satellites operators, can mitigate congestion of the Earth's orbit. Finally, we identify a pair of economic instruments capable of correcting these market failures and decentralizing an optimal state. Keywords: Space economics; Orbital debris; Sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers) Published in Environmental and Resource Economics, 2025, ⟨10.1007/s10640-025-00959-1⟩ There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04994389 DOI: 10.1007/s10640-025-00959-1 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in Post-Print from HAL |
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