Module 02
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Duration: 2.5 Hours • Difficulty: Intermediate

Visualizing the Orbital Economy

Moving from static spreadsheets to interactive intelligence dashboards.

The Narrative

Your Excel model from Module 1 was a massive success at Nova Capital. However, Sara (the Managing Director) just received a 300-page PDF from a competitor detailing every launch from 1957.

"I can't read this," she says, gesturing to the stack. "The Partners need to see the BIG PICTURE. I want a 'Mission Control' screen that shows us which country is currently leading the launch cadence and how the $/kg has changed over time. If I click on 'SpaceX', I want the whole dashboard to show me only their stats."

Visual Narrative: The "Space Race"

During the Cold War, data was a state secret. Today, it’s a commodity. In this module, we shift from calculating numbers to communicating them. A good dashboard is a story that updates automatically when new data arrives.

Step 1: Choose Your Dashboard Platform

Professional BI Workflow

  1. Connect to Data: Open Power BI Desktop. Click Get Data > Excel Workbook, find your saved Excel file from Module 1, and select the LaunchMarket table. Click Load.
  2. The Data View: Click the 'Data' icon on the far left panel (it looks like a table). Make sure your FirstLaunchYear column has a calendar icon next to it and your Cost_Per_KG is formatted as a Decimal number. BI tools need to know if a column is a word, a date, or a number!
  3. DAX / Calculated Fields: To find the true average, we don't just average the averages. We divide total cost by total mass. Right-click your table on the right-side 'Data' pane and select New Measure. Type this in the formula bar:
    AvgEfficiency = DIVIDE(SUM(LaunchMarket[CostPerLaunch_USD]), SUM(LaunchMarket[PayloadToLEO_kg]))

Google Sheets Dashboards

  1. Pivot Tables are your Engine: Highlight your data and go to Insert > Pivot Table on a New Sheet. Drag 'Country' to Rows and 'Cost_Per_KG' to Values. Change the summarize by from 'SUM' to 'AVERAGE'.
  2. Interactive Slicers: To let the MD filter the whole dashboard, go to Data > Add a Slicer. Choose 'Country' as the column. Now, anyone viewing the sheet can click the Slicer dropdown to filter the charts without touching the raw data!
  3. Sparklines (Mini Charts): You can put tiny trendlines directly inside cells. In an empty cell next to a country name, try typing:
    =SPARKLINE(B2:B30, {"charttype","line", "color", "blue"})

Step 2: The Three Pillars of Insight

Your dashboard must include these three "Gold Standard" visualizations:

1. The Leaderboard

A Treemap of Payload Mass by Country. Instantly shows who owns the most LEO real estate.

2. The Trend

A Combo Chart: Line chart for $/kg over time, Bar chart for total launch volume.

Step 3: The "So What?" (Tooltips & Formatting)

A static chart is a lecture. An interactive chart is a conversation. In Power BI, drag 'SuccessRate' into the Tooltips bucket of your visual. Now, when Sarah hovers her mouse block over a specific rocket on the chart, a small pop-up appears revealing its Success Rate and Country of Origin!

Artifact to Deliver

Your final Business Intelligence dashboard should be consolidated onto a single page and include:

  1. KPI Ribbon (Cards): Three large number "Card" visuals placed at the top of your dashboard for quick reading: Total Mass Orbited, Avg Cost/kg, and Overall Success Rate %.
  2. Global Map: An interactive map visualization where you dragged the 'Country' field into Location, and 'CostPerLaunch' into Bubble Size.
  3. The Filter Test: Cross-filtering is the magic of BI. If you click on "SpaceX" on your Leaderboard visual, does the map update? Does the average $/kg card drop? Capture a screenshot showing this exact "filtered" state.

Summary of Big Ideas