Innovations in International Entrepreneurial Space
- Paper number
IAC-08.E6.3.5
- Author
Mr. Gregory K. Schmidt, NASA, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Mark Nall, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Marshall Space Flight Center, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Robert Kelso, NASA Johnson Space Center, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Robert Richards, Optech Incorporated, Canada
- Year
2008
- Abstract
Decreasing discretionary government spending has put great pressures on already stretched space budgets, forcing difficult programmatic choices. Reduced or flatlined RA budgets and limited technology development slows progress. However, the increasing prominence of the international entrepreneurial space industry offers another alternative – leverage upon commercial investments to achieve critical scientific and programmatic goals. NASA has employed this through the Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) to achieve a path to commercial resupply of the International Space Station, but many more and different opportunities may be available in coming years. For instance, prize-based challenges such as the original X-prize stimulated the growth of the personal spaceflight industry, and the Google Lunar X-prize has spurred the development of 10 teams, at least one of which has offered the lunar science community small payload space for reasonable rates. Each of these challenges sparks creativity by only specifying high-level requirements, allowing the nascent entrepreneurial space industry to respond with innovative solutions. A series of Space Investment Summits held in 2006 and 2007 further connect this industry with venture and other capital. The combination of all these factors could create a new, robust and truly lasting international presence in space.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)