CSF PRESS RELEASE
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation and the Next Step in Space Coalition welcome the strong support of commercial spaceflight expressed by the White House’s Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, also known as the Augustine Committee for its Chairman, former aerospace industry executive Norm Augustine.
The Augustine Committee, in the “Key Findings” section of its summary report released yesterday, stated, “commercial services to deliver crew to low-Earth orbit are within reach… [and] could provide an earlier capability at lower initial and lifecycle costs than government could achieve. A new competition with adequate incentives should be open to all U.S. aerospace companies. This would allow NASA to focus on more challenging roles, including human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit.”
Bretton Alexander, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, stated, “A full Commercial Crew program would leverage private investment to create thousands of jobs in states including Florida, Nevada, Colorado, Virginia, Texas, California, and Alabama. Both large and medium-sized companies have expressed interest in participating, including United Launch Alliance with 4000 employees, Sierra Nevada Corporation with 1600 employees, and SpaceX with 800 employees, all companies that have built and flown space hardware in orbit.”
Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, stated, “The Augustine Committee is sending an unambiguous message that commercial human space transportation is an important ingredient in future U.S. human space exploration plans. The Committee recognizes that in addition to the cost savings and reducing the gap in U.S. spaceflight capability that supporting U.S. commercial human space transportation will promote competition and create critical high tech jobs at home.”
Mark Sirangelo, Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and Chairman of Sierra Nevada Space Systems, added, “Commercial Crew will fill an urgent need. Currently, when the Space Shuttle retires in 2011, the U.S. will purchase seats on Russian Soyuz vehicles to send our astronauts to the $100 billion Space Station, sending our funds overseas at the price of at least $51 million per seat. Commercial crew will promote greater competition, create new high tech jobs in the U.S. and prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars from being sent overseas.”
“The commercial spaceflight sector appreciates today’s strong endorsement and validation by the Augustine Committee of our industry, and we look forward to strengthening our partnerships with NASA and the US Government to help deliver cargo, fuel, and crew to the International Space Station and for other Low Earth Orbit missions. Commercial Crew in Low Earth Orbit is complementary, not competitive, to NASA exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit,” added Sirangelo.
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