The purpose of this research was to identify the critical factors in technology transfer (TT) between social actors in the space sector. Five projects of partnership programs between the Brazilian (‘AEB’) and the American (‘NASA’) space agencies were analyzed. The organizational arrangement and factors that facilitated technology transfer between the actors of the innovation sector system and space production in Brazil and in the USA were identified. The research methodology applied was a multiple case study involving three universities and four R&D institutes - as generators of technology; and the National Institute of Space Research (‘INPE’) and the Aeronautics and Space Institute (‘IAE’) - as users. Two conceptual models were the major results of this study: the first one represents the technology transfer between generator and user in terms of barriers and facilitators obtained from the research; the second represents the dynamic of partnership between social actors during the technology transfer process.
Technology transfer; Technology innovation; Partnership programs; Space agencies
