Industry and Space Exploration, Enabling Development
- Paper number
IAC-07-A5.1.04
- Author
Mr. Mark Nall, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Marshall Space Flight Center, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Greg Schmidt, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Ken Davidian, United States
- Year
2007
- Abstract
In the spring of 2006, NASA began the process of including industry into its exploration planning process through a workshop and request for information. This process builds upon innovative methods that it has employed such as the Funded Space Act Agreements used in the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) project. Confidence in industry’s ability to play a significant role is strengthened by early growth in commercial infrastructure activities such as spaceports, suborbital tourism, and demonstrations of inflatable orbital structures, developed in large part through private funding. Next steps could include early lunar commercial demonstrations such as video downlinks, and utilization of lunar resources as part of NASA lunar missions. These demonstrations could pave the way for NASA to use other innovative acquisition instruments in the future (such as the Funded Space Act Agreements) for services on the Moon of consumables such as fuel, power, and gases. Given the nearly 15 year timeframe before a human return to the Moon, and commercial planning for low Earth orbit, a non-NASA customer base for these services may be developing in parallel. By going beyond traditional contracts and leveraging private and other non-federal investments, governments can reduce risks for industry, and help enable space development.
- Abstract document