Beyond NASA: The push to privatize spaceflight

Beyond NASA: The push to privatize spaceflight
Christian Science Monitor 07/21/05
author: Peter N. Spotts
(Copyright 2005)


EL SEGUNDO, CALIF. - Not far from bustling Los Angeles International Airport and the glistening office towers of Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and other aerospace giants sits a cluster of squat buildings that may hold a key to the future of manned spaceflight.

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The goal: to loft people and cargo at one-tenth the current cost. Building reusable rockets is only the first step. Industry sources say NASA, too, will have to buy services and hardware - at lower cost - from a broader cast of aerospace characters than the traditional players. And while taking the lead in high-risk human exploration of space, the government also needs to build an infrastructure in orbit - such as the space station - from which private companies could launch missions and conduct research.

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In May, for example, the Federal Aviation Administration published guidelines for granting permits to companies wanting to test reusable suborbital rockets. The move follows the FAA's February publication of draft guidelines governing crews and passengers in private spacecraft. The FAA's authority to regulate the industry - first via guidelines, later with binding regulations - came through the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act, which was signed into law in December.

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Following the X Prize model, in May Mr. Sponberg's NASA division unveiled a $250,000 prize for the first team to devise a practical way of converting lunar soil compounds into breathable oxygen. The award carries a June 1, 2008, deadline. Earlier this year, the office announced four $100,000 prizes for advances in beam-power and space-tether technologies. He says money has been earmarked in the proposal for next year's budget to begin building toward the biggest prizes. These prizes aim to encourage large private efforts that might include robotic missions to the moon.

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Robert Bigelow, who owns Budget Suites of America, is putting his money into inflatable modules larger, lighter, hardier, and less expensive than those making up the International Space Station. Ironically, the technology was developed at NASA, then killed by Congress, at which point Mr. Bigelow bought the patent rights, notes William Schneider, a former NASA engineer who originated the concept and is now a collaborator on Bigelow's project.

Although much is made of using the modules to build an orbiting hotel, Bigelow Aerospace also is banking on pharmaceutical companies' interest in conducting biological experiments in microgravity. Those experiments have been drastically curtailed in the aftermath of the Columbia disaster in 2003. Dr. Schneider says Bigelow Aerospace is hoping to pick up the slack. The first test flight for a one-third scale module is slated for launch in February from Russia, he says.

Meanwhile, Bigelow has put up $50 million for America's Space Prize. The goal is to launch and return an empty vehicle capable of holding five people in an orbit some 249 miles above Earth, then repeat the task 60 days later with five people on board for two orbits. The deadline: Jan. 10, 2010, the year NASA's remaining shuttles are slated for retirement.

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"Of anything we could do, it's the most significant as far as perpetuating the species," he says. "If we really want to understand the nature of the universe and our place in it, we must become a spacefaring civilization."

Some of the prizes seem to be getting bigger - $50 Million is a really big number. However, the costs of building these types of vehicles is also REALLY big. How to make a profit on these types of things is really the problem. Tourism, access to raw materials, and research capabilities are all possibilities for revenue generation. Perhaps a place to live, ...anyone feeling crowded..., a new summer home on the moon anyone?