Wed, Jul 01, 2009
White Paper On Low Earth Orbit Policy Delivered To White
House
Enabling the development of commercial crew and cargo
transportation to the International Space Station is the central
recommendation of a policy paper submitted by members of the
Commercial Spaceflight Federation tothe Review of U.S. Human Space
Flight Plans Committee, also known as the Augustine Committee.
In less than 18 months, when the space
shuttle is planned for retirement, the United States will become
solely dependent on Russia to send our astronauts to the Space
Station,¨ said Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial
Spaceflight Federation. "By leveraging the private sector, America
can maximize our utilization of the Space Station and ensure that
NASA has more resources available for robust exploration of the
Moon and beyond.¨
Titled "Commercial Spaceflight in Low Earth Orbit is the Key to
Affordable and Sustainable Exploration Beyond,¨ the policy
paper makes the following major points:
The key to full utilization of the
Space Station and sustainable exploration beyond low Earth orbit
(LEO) is to turn LEO over to the private sector, thereby allowing
NASA to focus its resources and expertise on exploration of the
Moon and beyond. By making a series of careful, targeted
investments, NASA can affordably and quickly enable the development
of commercial spaceflight capabilities for both people and cargo to
the International Space Station.
To do so, NASA should create a Commercial Crew Program based on
NASA's existing Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS)
program for cargo to the Station. To maximize benefits to NASA and
the taxpayer, NASA should fund multiple fixed price,
milestone-based Space Act Agreements for development of commercial
crew capabilities, leveraging capital from the private sector.
Regardless of the exploration architecture chosen, government
and commercial spaceflight are not a zero-sum game. They are
complementary, not competitive.
The white paper was delivered to the Augustine Committee on
behalf of the member companies of the Commercial Spaceflight
Federation.
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