10-Year Plan

On Monday, October 21, 2002, at 10:26 AM, jdr7181 wrote:

> Let's say for the sake of argument you have all been asked to
> participate in a project to define a 10-year plan for commercial
> space development. What are the most immediate needs?

Much better launch vehicles

> What can be
> reasonably accomplished (commercially) in space over the next 10
> years?

Communication satellites, Earth resources satellites, sub-orbital
tourist flights, ISS rich-guy tourism.

> What changes to policy/laws need to be made to better enssure
> commercial space operations by 2013?

Devote half of NASA's budget to developing better launch vehicles.
- Develop materials and propulsion
- Buy many future launches from developers. They use the
guaranteed business to raise capital.
- Use the launches to test the vehicle and loft technology
demonstration satellites
- Gov't only pays if the launches happen (pay reduced amount,
say 50%, for launch failures)
- Provide test facilities at marginal cost (government pays
development and overhead)
- Simplify and standardize test facility use
- Provide launch pads at marginal cost
Provide catastrophic insurance for launch failures

>
> Jack
>
The International Space Station (ISS) most important legacy may be
jump-starting space tourism. Consider: the first space tourist, Dennis
Tito, was supposed to go to the Soviet era Mir space station. Under
pressure from NASA, Russia de-orbited the Mir which resulted in Mr. Tito
going to the ISS instead. Now the Mir was old, smelly, crowded and
probably not all that nice. The ISS was brand new, shinny, much more
roomy, etc. Mr. Tito came back to Earth with glowing accounts of how
great space is. Would his experience have been as good on Mir?

Al Globus
CSC at NASA Ames Research Center
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/~globus/home.html