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NASA SWOT Analysis

Team PRC

College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University

OGL355: Leading Organizational Innovation and Change

Dr. B

February 3, 2021
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NASA SWOT Analysis

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has led space travel

internationally since its founding. Due to the flourishing interest in commercial space

exploration, it is imperative that NASA continues to research internally and externally all areas

of their organization and the industry.   Determining internally what is being done well and what

could be done better, along with identification of opportunities and threats outside of the

organization will provide important details to NASA’s strategic team in developing solutions.  

SWOT Analysis

         PRC conducted a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis for

NASA which included an assessment of these criteria.  A visual SWOT analysis allows PRC to

clearly communicate the advantages and disadvantages of NASA’s mission to remain

competitive in this fast-growing commercial space industry.  These analyses provide essential

information to NASA’s strategic planning team, which can be used to build on strengths, address

areas of weakness, take advantage of opportunities and overcome threats. In addition, it will help

determine where NASA’s commercial space division is today relative to their current mission

and vision for the future. The outcome will enable NASA to determine “what strategic issues

organizational decision makers must address in their pursuit of sustainable competitive

advantage and high levels of performance” (Coulter, 2013, p.121).

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Strengths (internal) Weaknesses (internal)

 Experience in human spaceflight  Transition to next generation

 Established research facilities spaceflight
 Industry collaborations  Finance management 
 Talent acquisition   Disconnect with stakeholders
 Information Technology security

Opportunities (external) Threats (external)

 Brand recognition   Government policy/political climate

 Public interest  Commercialization of space travel
 Lack of dominant market  Environmental sustainability
 Technological advancements  Accessibility to resources

Strengths 

Since their founding in 1958, NASA has dedicated their efforts to researching space

science, spaceflight, aeronautics, and other related areas that have had “widespread impacts on

our nation and the world” (NASA, 2008). These efforts have led to the discovery and

understanding of our solar system and what lies within it. Throughout the decades NASA has

launched over 200 crewed human flight missions into space and in 2004 they were the first

agency to land a rover on the surface of Mars (NASA, 2008). Additional achievements include

the construction of the International Space Station (ISS) in 1998 in which NASA was a major

contributor. The success of these missions provided extensive data used to create a colossal
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knowledge base. NASA’s resume into human spaceflight has proven to be one of the agency’s

strongest assets and notable recognition as an industry leader.

Another strength of NASA is their innovative ability to collaborate within the space

industry. By investing billions in companies like SpaceX and Boeing, NASA has achieved its

goals in developing alternative means to build and fly cargo vehicles to the International Space

Station (The Planetary Society, 2020). NASA wisely invests in these companies to reap the

benefits of new influence introduced by privately owned companies. These alliances have forged

a dependence on NASA and locked in the agency’s position as a financier. This strategy also

allows NASA to be more diversified within their budget and allocate funding to numerous

sources.

Weaknesses 

In the year 2020, NASA received $22.6 billion in federal funding. This amount accounts

for .48% of all United States spending. Half of the budget is spent on the Human Spaceflight

Program, 30% on robotic missions and the remaining amount is allocated to overhead for further

internal costs (The Planetary Society, 2020). This breakdown has been publicly criticized as

NASA has spent over $20 billion dollars on canceled projects dating back from the 1990s. Lack

of strategic financial planning has led to a reshuffling of priorities, leaving a gap in funding to

complete active missions (Dickerson, 2016). NASA will need to consider improved financial

management and prioritization to deal most effectively with a shrinking budget.

Another weakness for NASA to acknowledge is a breach of cyber security, resulting in

the loss of confidential information.  “Recent breaches of NASA computer systems have resulted

in the theft of sensitive data related to agency programs, which adversely affected NASA’s
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mission and resulted in millions of dollars in losses” (Dunbar, 2010 pg. 6). Lack of adequate

security has been traced back to a failure to complete internal security controls testing. This

oversight resulted in the loss of research data and deterred the results of numerous missions.

Additionally, the lack of implementation and enforcement of security protocols compromises the

agency’s proprietary data.

Opportunities 

NASA is historically a well-branded organization that has an established, commanding

reputation world-wide.  NASA can improve upon the marketability of its branding and utilize

opportunities to expand into additional income generating outlets.  NASA has placed emphasis

on its reputable branding through commercialization of memorabilia and competitive

benchmarking.  The introduction of numerous media platforms in recent years will assist in

raising awareness of the NASA brand as competitors enter the commercial space travel industry.

SpaceX founded in 2002, is backed by billionaire Elon Musk, who is privy to utilizing online

opportunities including social media, which is an area NASA never had to contend with in its

early stages of development (Mimaroglu, 2019). There is no shortage of opportunities for NASA

to continue to mature their brand’s reputation. Marketing campaigns will provide the public with

all the quickly emerging development of commercial space travel.  

The foundation of NASA’s ability to send people into space is predominantly dependent

on state-of-the-art technologies.   The evolution of fast-paced technologies has enabled them to

efficiently engineer some of the most specialized equipment in a fraction of the time compared to

a decade ago.  NASA continues to capitalize on technological advancements as they transition

from the space shuttle to the next generation of space vehicles (NASA, 2008).  These gains have
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also allowed NASA to expand their reach to improve the lives and safety of society through

revolutionized product development.  

Threats

NASA has been the cornerstone of the U.S. Space Program since the beginning of the

international space race. The introduction of the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act

in 2015 encouraged commercialization of space travel by eliminating government regulations

and liabilities.   This Act allows private companies to explore and exploit space resources

including water and minerals which can hinder agencies like NASA from further space

explorations (Orphanides, 2017).  Access to important resources for developing space

exploration technologies will no longer be managed by NASA.

With the emergence of commercial space tourism, it would be irresponsible for NASA to

ignore any potentially negative environmental impacts their agency could create.  Increasing the

number of launches to support growth in the market can add to the progression of black carbon,

which is the by-product of fossil fuels required to make rocket fuel.  This could have a dramatic

effect on the ozone and climate change which could be an obstacle for potential environmentally

conscious customers.  Ozone reduction could increase to a loss of 1.7% a year in the tropics and

sub-tropics, along with a temperature increase of 5-6% in the polar regions (Mann, 2010).

Conclusion

         To remain successful in the fast-paced growth of the commercial space travel industry,

NASA must take into consideration these SWOT findings to acknowledge what is being done

effectively and address what needs to change.  By capitalizing on their internal strengths like the
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longevity of their experience or identifying their weaknesses within their financial priorities, a

refreshed strategic plan can be formed within the organization. They must also consider how to

leverage the external opportunities that have been identified while simultaneously minimizing

external threats.

APPROVAL: 

Amber - ADB Alicia- ASA  Carter - CB Kari - KBA Michael - MAV

Laurie - LAP
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References

Coulter, M. (2013). Strategic management in action (6th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.

Dickerson, K. (2016, January 26). An astronaut's complaint about the president perfectly

captures what is wrong with NASA. Business Insider.

https://www.businessinsider.com/astronaut-scott-kelly-nails-nasa-budget-problem-2016-

1. 

Dunbar, B. Office of Legislative Affairs. NASA. https://www.hq.nasa.gov/legislative/hearings. 

Mann, A. (2010, October 22). Space tourism to accelerate climate change. Retrieved February

03, 2021, from https://www.nature.com/news/2010/101022/full/news.2010.558.html.

Mimaroglu, A. (2019, October 29). 3 Executive-Branding Lessons We Can Learn from Elon

Musk. Retrieved January 31, 2021, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/341278.

NASA. (2008). Home. NASA. https://spinoff.nasa.gov.

Orphanides, K. G. (2017, October 4). American companies could soon mine asteroids for profit.

WIRED UK. https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-11/12/how-to-mine-asteroids-

for-fun-and-profit.

Your Guide to NASA's Budget. The Planetary Society. https://www.planetary.org/space-

policy/nasa-budget.