個案資料

Elon R. Musk, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), was on a mission to provide people in rural and remote areas with affordable, reliable Internet access. Starlink—a constellation of 12,000 satellites to be launched into low Earth orbit (LEO)—was to provide a seamless web of high-speed, low-latency Internet access to anyone with a coordinating ground station. If revenue from the project materialized as forecast, the income stream could help fund Musk's bigger mission: getting people to Mars. The project was not without its challenges, however. LEO satellites had failed in the past, and the market emphasis was the launch of the fifth-generation mobile network (5G) and extending that service to rural areas. Further, competition was increasing, as other companies were entering the segment. Another problem was the clutter and light pollution that the satellites created in orbit. How could Musk increase demand for Starlink's services, and how should he prioritize and tackle the challenges his project faced?

This case is intended for undergraduate- and graduate-level courses on marketing management, strategic marketing, business strategy, or strategic management. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:<ul><li>Critically analyze how firms can prioritize the strategic issues to be resolved.</li><li>Explore different mechanisms to identify competitors.</li><li>Investigate demand for a particular product or service.</li><li>Critically analyze pricing strategies for an already existing service that uses a different technology.</li></ul>

• demand uncertainty
• Internet services
• pricing
• AIDA
• competitor analysis