Tag Archive for 'space policy'

India, China, Rocket Racing and Mortgage Defaults

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on October 14, 2008
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The Space Review has a gaggle of interesting pieces about commercial space:

Taylor Dinerman warns the commercial space industry not to follow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over a cliff.

John Jurist believes RLVs have a role as commercial suborbital sounding rockets.

Jeff Foust looks at the accomplishments of the Rocket Racing League, which has yet to actually race anything.

Dwayne Day examines the Indian and Chinese human spaceflight efforts to posit what the future might hold.

Claude Lafleur argues that the search for life, and worlds that can sustain it, is a worthy alternative to expensive human spaceflight programs that are difficult to sustain.

Opinion: Japan, Britain and North Carolina Need Clear Directions in Space

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on September 2, 2008
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A Real Ministry of Space
The Space Review

“The common perception of Britain when it comes to space is one of apathy. Andrew Weston argues that there is considerable public interest in space in the UK, waiting to be harnessed by the British government in the form of a coherent policy.”

Govt vision on space must be clear, concise
The Yomiuri Shimbun

“The basic law on space came into effect late last month, finally providing a system that allows the nation’s political leaders to promote Japan’s space policy.

“Space development involves a huge amount of money and considerable risks. It is important, therefore, for concrete goals and schedules to be fully disclosed in the basic program.

“If the government fails to provide the whole picture of the program, including its planned investments, private companies will hesitate to participate in it.”

Up, Up and Away, Triangle
The News & Observer

NewSpace Consultant Jeff Krukin suggests that North Carolina’s Research Triangle could be a hotbed of space tourism activity if government, industry and universities work together.

“The key is treating space transportation the same way we treat terrestrial transportation — vehicles are developed, owned and operated by competing companies. Governments provide the regulatory framework, conduct basic technology research and development and become a consumer of the resulting products and services.”

Where to Now? Analysts Ponder U.S. Space Program After Bush

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on June 19, 2008
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As the Bush Administration limps toward the finish line, analysts are trying to work out what the American space program should look like in the future. The Space Review has been examining these issues over the last few weeks.

The Vision for Space Exploration and the retirement of the Baby Boomers (part 3)
Charles Miller and Jeff Foust

In part 1 of this series, we made the case that the current plan to achieve the Vision for Space Exploration may well be unsustainable and unaffordable in the face of huge financial pressures created by the coming retirement of the baby boomers. In part 2 of this series, we suggested a Plan B strategy for achieving the goals of the VSE, which is credible even if NASA’s budget is significantly cut in the coming decade….Now, in part 3 of this essay, we make specific recommendations on “how” our nation should proceed to achieve cheap and reliable access to space (CRATS).

Space policy questions and decisions facing a new administration
Eligar Sadeh

The next president will face a number of major issues related to space policy upon taking office next January. Eligar Sadeh examines those issues as discussed at a forum earlier this year.

How to become a presidential hero
Greg Zsidisin

Promising to reexamine NASA’s implementation of the exploration vision, including such vehcles as the Ares 5 (above), could be a winning proposition for a presidential candidate.

The so-so space debate
Jeff Foust

Last Friday representatives of the three remaining major presidential candidates gathered in Washington to discuss space policy. Jeff Foust reports that the discussion ended with many of the questions about the candidates’ policies left unanswered.

Planetary Society to Conduct Public Meetings on Space Exploration

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on March 30, 2008
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PLANETARY SOCIETY PRESS RELEASE

Pasadena, CA, — On March 29, 2008 in Brookline, Massachusetts, The Planetary Society will launch a series of Town Hall meetings to engage the public in charting a course for human space exploration beyond Earth orbit. This first Town Hall meeting will be hosted by the Clay Center Observatory of the Dexter and Southfield Schools, and is free and open to the public.

Planetary Society Vice-President Bill Nye the Science Guy will conduct the meeting, which will include short presentations followed by public discussion. Planetary Society Board member and scientist, Heidi Hammel, will provide an overview of current and planned activities in space exploration; Erika Wagner, an Aerospace Medical Engineer at MIT, will present a “Generation Y” perspective; and Gerry Haas will present a citizen/taxpayer viewpoint. However, the majority of the meeting will be dedicated to audience participation.

“The upcoming change in U.S. Administration is certain to bring many changes and new political priorities,” said Louis Friedman, Executive Director of the Society. “We need to examine the current Vision for Space Exploration to see what it will take to gather greater political support and public interest to carry out the Vision,” he added.

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Astronaut Urges Britain to Join Human Spaceflight Effort

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on March 23, 2008
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British-born astronaut Piers Sellers is urging UK policymakers to get the nation involved in human spaceflight. Sellers, a veteran of two shuttle missions, said the rewards are well worth the expense.

“The UK needs a new generation of scientists and engineers if it is to be viable in the future world economy. I and many of my scientist and engineer colleagues were inspired to get into science and engineering in the first place because of space. And it is obvious that the appeal of space exploration to the public in general and to the young in particular is as strong as ever,” he writes in The Guardian.

MacKinnon: Next President Must Embrace JFK’s Space Vision

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on March 23, 2008
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In a Houston Chronicle opinion piece titled “No place for partisans on NASA, space exploration,” former White House and Pentagon official Douglas MacKinnon invokes the spirit of a president who long ago sent his nation on a voyage to the moon.

“President John F. Kennedy addressed the importance of the United States having a vibrant and preeminent space program. ‘We mean to be part of it we mean to lead it. For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond. Our leadership in science and in industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to become the world’s leading spacefaring nation.’

“No matter who is our next president, he or she is either going to have to buy in completely to the premise of that young president, or stand aside and watch as other nations lay claim to the promise of space. There is no middle ground. John F. Kennedy understood it then, and the People’s Republic of China, with its ambitious manned space program run by its military, understands it now. Preeminence in space translates to economic, scientific, educational and national security advantages,” writes MacKinnon, who is now a Washington lobbyist.

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Russia: Feeling a Tad Slighted?

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on March 23, 2008
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Andrei Kislyakov has an interesting analysis on the RIA Novosti website about Russia’s future role in the International Space Station project. Although there are fears in the West about the country’s growing role in the program, some in Russia worry their involvement could decline in the future.

The recent launch of Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle resupply ship has subtly shifted the balance among the partners. Europe will be playing a larger role in station operations, a role that could eventually expand to flying astronauts to the facility aboard a human-rated ATV.

To date, crew transfers and cargo resupply have been handled by the American space shuttle and the Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. However, America plans to retire the shuttles in 2010, and it could be five years before the successor vehicle, Orion, flies crews to ISS.

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The Best of Times, the Worst of Times (Canada)

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on March 23, 2008
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Declaring the nation to be at a crossroads in space, the Toronto Star is urging Canadian policymakers to chart a firm course for the country.

Star editors point to three worrisome signs: Canada’s active astronaut corps has dwindled down to three; its last contribution to the International Space Station, the Dextre robot, was successfully installed on the space station last week; and the builder of Dextre and Radarsat 2 is up for sale to an American defense contractor.

The paper urged Conservative Industry Jim Prentice “to weigh the merits – and demerits” of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates’ plan to sell its space division to Alliant Technosystems. Beyond that, the Star editors said policymakers need to define what precisely Canada should do in space.

“Marc Garneau, former astronaut and past head of the Canadian Space Agency (and a future Liberal candidate), says what we need is a comprehensive space strategy. ‘We are very much at a crossroads, at a time when even India, China and Brazil have got very ambitious space programs,’ says Garneau. ‘It seems everybody’s going up there while we are beginning to slip,’” the editors wrote.

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times (Japan)

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on March 23, 2008
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This should be the best of times in space for Japan. The first section of the nation’s Kibo module was successfully attached to the International Space Station last week. Videos of a smiling Takao Doi floating weightless in the new module were beamed down to a proud nation.

However, Japan finds itself at a bit of a crossroads. In an article titled Space development proves financial black hole, Yomiuri Shimbun staff writer Keiko Chino explores efforts by Japanese policymakers to chart a course for the country amid widespread discontent with falling government space spending and skepticism over its 1 trillion yen, 20-year investment in the space station.

The Liberal Democratic Party launched a full-scale review of space policy in February. Last year, the party submitted a bill calling for “the establishment of a space development strategy headquarters, to be chaired by the prime minister, to allow the country to conduct research aimed at industrial and security purposes,” Chino reports.

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Is Dextre the last hurrah for the Canadian space program?

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on March 9, 2008
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Even as the Canadian space officials look forward to the launch of their robot Dextre to the International Space Station this week, they are facing a range of challenges to their future, the National Post reports.

The Canadian Space Agency’s budget has been frozen for the last decade and political leaders have not given the agency a firm commitment to participate in the American human lunar and Mars program, the newspaper says. CSA’s president, Laurier Boisvert, resigned in December after only nine months on the job.

Boisvert’s resignation was apparently spurred, in part, by the planned sale of the space technology division of MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. to an American military contractor. The company built the country’s most visible contribution to human spaceflight, Canadarm, as well as the Dextre robot, which is set for launch this week aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Ben Quine, a professor at York University’s Earth and Space Engineering department, said Canada’s future direction is uncertain. “Canadarm was a great Canadian success story,” he told the paper. “But to some extent, we’ve lost our way in the space industry in this country … I think we’ve got to be really careful about our direction in the future. We need a viable space industry and a vibrant research and development sector.”