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.

FMI: www.commercialspaceflight.org