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TECHNOLOGY Bloomberg Businessweek May 14, 2018
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FROM LEFT:DHIRAJ SINGH/BLOOMBERG (1);COURTESY LOCAL ROOTS (2)
THE BOTTOM LINE Transponders may help prevent potentially
costly collisions among the thousands of objects orbiting—or about
to orbit—the Earth.
and former head of U.S. Strategic Command.
“These operators don’t want to move their satel-
lites just on a whim” given the inite fuel on board,
Haney said during a panel at last month’s Space
Symposium in Colorado. “It really is something
we have to get at, and in my mind, get at quickly.”
The Aerospace-proposed transponder, includ-
ing a GPS module and radio transmitter, is the size
of a deck of playing cards, Abraham says. The idea
would be to report a craft’s location on a regular
basis, allowing trackers to narrow its position at
any time to dozens of feet. The system would oper-
ate in three modes: normal, thrust (for when the
satellite is repositioning itself ), and debris, a low-
power setting that would report less frequently for
as long as 40 years, thanks to a small solar cell.
Transponders could help satellite operators cor-
rect for the efects of gravity, too. (Depending on
their mass, size, shape, orientation, and type of
orbit, satellites tend to veer gradually of course.)
Transponders would incur additional cost, and
they wouldn’t solve the problem of what’s already
up there. It’s also not clear who would coordinate
all the data they’d provide. A government agency,
industry group, or new commercial or nonproit
organization? Aerospace says an international body
would be best.
Space traic management has little government
oversight, although the Trump administration has
proposed that the U.S. Department of Commerce
coordinate tracking with other nations. In any case,
according to Abraham, “the forecasted increase in
launch rates eliminates the status quo as a viable
option.” He’s planning to put his irst prototype in
orbit next year. —Justin Bachman
TheMan
Flipkart
○ Walmart made an historic investment after
the Indian online retailer’s CEO reset his
company’s strategy
At the beginning of 2017, the outlook for web
retailer Flipkart Online Services Pvt. was decidedly
gloomy. Although heralded as India’s most success-
ful startup, the private company saw its valuation
dropping, and it was getting harder to raise money
from investors. Inc. was pledging to
spend $5 billion-plus to grab market share in India,
and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. was coveting the
same space. When Kalyan Krishnamurthy became
chief executive oicer of Flipkart in January of that
year, many observers said 2017 would be make or
break for both him and the company.
The 46-year-old former director of inance at a
hedge fund took some risks. He ired senior man-
agers, set more aggressive sales targets, boosted
spending on promotions, and promised to domi-
nate India’s festival season shopping.
The strategy worked, with an historic return on
those risks: On May 9, Walmart Inc. made a $16 bil-
lion initial investment in Flipkart, the biggest ever
by a foreign buyer in India. The deal helps cement
Flipkart’s lead against Amazon and Alibaba in the
world’s fastest-growing major economy. Online
shopping in India is projected by Morgan Stanley to
reach $200 billion within the next decade, compared
with $30 billion now. “His relentless focus and his
aggressive execution changed Flipkart’s fortunes,”
says Anil Kumar, CEO of RedSeer Management
Consulting Pvt. in Bengaluru. “He brought the edge
that Flipkart was missing.”
The deal also represents a signiicant part of
Walmart’s overseas expansion eforts. Since entering
Mexico in 1991, the world’s largest retailer has closed
money-losing operations in Germany and South
Korea. Two years ago, Walmart sold its Chinese
e-commerce business, Yihaodian, to Inc. in
return for a inancial stake in the parent company.
The number of Walmart’s international stores hasn’t
budged from about 6,000 since 2013, and it’s had to
shutter outlets in Japan and Brazil.
Walmart says it’s happily keeping Krishnamurthy
as CEO of Flipkart. “We are excited about this man-
agement team,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said
on a conference call after the deal was announced.
“They are identifying customer problems, innovat-
ing, and problem-solving. We are investing in a set
of problem solvers.” Krishnamurthy didn’t respond
to requests for comment.
“For Flipkart, this deal is more than just money,”
says Satish Meena, a New Delhi-based senior forecast
○ Krishnamurthy