There are five major learning objectives in this case: asset specificity, agency theory, stewardship theory, market management, and contracting for high-stakes, costly mega-projects. The case enables instructors to lead students through discussions of these topics by offering a retrospective view of several elements of the space industry in different time periods: development and operation of the Space Transportation System (STS, also known as the Space Shuttle), development of a commercial market for space technology, and issues facing NASA at the time it retired the STS.