: 10.56472/25835238/IRJEMS-V5I8P106
Dr. N. Fathima Thabassum. "Mapping the Intellectual Structure and Thematic Evolution of Space Entrepreneurship Ecosystems: A Bibliometric Analysis" International Research Journal of Economics and Management Studies, Vol. 5, No. 8, pp. 61-75, 2026. Crossref. https://doi.org/10.56472/25835238/IRJEMS-V5I8P106
The rapid commercialisation of the global space sector has transformed space activities from government-led programmes into innovation-driven entrepreneurial ecosystems supported by private enterprises, technological advancements, and strategic public–private collaborations. Despite the growing scholarly interest in this emerging domain, research on space entrepreneurship ecosystems remains fragmented across multiple disciplines, limiting a comprehensive understanding of its intellectual structure and thematic evolution. This study aims to systematically map the knowledge landscape of space entrepreneurship ecosystem research through a bibliometric analysis. Bibliographic data comprising 2,722 publications were retrieved from the OpenAlex database and analysed using VOSviewer and Microsoft Excel. The study employed performance analysis and science-mapping techniques, including citation analysis, author productivity, co-authorship analysis, term co-occurrence, network visualization, overlay visualization, and density visualization. The results show a large growth in academic publications after the NewSpace economy trend, reflecting increasing levels of interest among scholars in this area of study. Field conceptual structure is situated around four thematically connected aspects: commercialisation and regulation, innovation and entrepreneurship, business development and organisational evolution. This first overlay visualization demonstrates a slow shift from legal and policy research to innovation, start-ups and entrepreneurship. The analysis also uncovers gaps in the literature on venture capital, incubation and entrepreneurial finance as well as ecosystem governance important opportunities for future research. This study encapsulates the architecture of space entrepreneurship systems, contributing to a nascent body of literature pertaining to commercial space innovation and offering actionable insights for researchers as well as practitioners interested in enhancing entrepreneurial ecosystem performance within the NewSpace economy.
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Space Entrepreneurship, NewSpace, Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Bibliometric Analysis, OpenAlex, VOSviewer, Commercial Space, Innovation Ecosystem.