8. Most important thing for NASA commercial space support

Some initial responses (randomly selected)

 

8. What do you think is the most important thing that NASA could do to support and promote commercial space?

  • Don’t develop or reinvent ANYTHING that commercial providers could provide, from pencils to big rockets. Buy these things from them.
  • Operate by the rules already in place to buy COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) products whenever possible.
  • Specify what NASA wants by when and not how to get the job done. Let commercial creativity and innovation get a workout.
  • Prove that NASA can be a good partner by making a deal and sticking with it – a very tall order for NASA.
  • Encourage property rights in space that are consistent with a thriving commercial economy in space. Stop acting like a communist institution.
  • In many arenas, just stay out of the way and don’t pick winners/losers and don’t meddle.
  • Adopt commercial design and interface standards (e.g., TCP/IP) whenever possible; don’t invent their own.

(Response A)

 

8. What do you think is the most important thing that NASA could do to support and promote commercial space?

a. Break of NASA Ames and place it under Dept of Commerce Office of Space Commercialization as a Space Development Agency

b. Re-establish a NACA like function that is responsible to a board of commercial entities to do targeted pre-competitive commercial research, and DARPA-like external technology development

c. Expand support of prizes for everything, including getting American citizens to the Moon.

d. Conduct surveys of the Moon and NEA’s specifically for commercial exploitation

e. Do Lee Morin’s idea of placing a for-rent telerobotic ISRU facility on the Moon

f. Build a railroad that commercial entities can actually ride, ride often, and can be transferred to them

g. Define the Moonbase, set up a port authority, do on-line digital competitions for design, bid for first entrant post partners, decide and contract out services, make plain and public the standards of electrical, hydraulic, pressure doors, volatiles, etc. Get a real real-estate developer, Mall Developer to help you fill out the “lunar mall” or condominium.

(Response B)

 

8. What do you think is the most important thing that NASA could do to support and promote commercial space?

Establish an easily communicated vision, develop the strategy to get there, co-develop technology with the commercial world, and remove the “on again/off again” funding model. (Response C)

 

8. What do you think is the most important thing that NASA could do to support and promote commercial space?

Insist that NASA and other government agencies purchase services from industry providers. The model to follow is that of the post office in requesting airmail delivery through the U.S. in the early 20th century. This policy of the postmaster general led to the development of today’s major U.S. air carriers. (Response D)

 

8. What do you think is the most important thing that NASA could do to support and promote commercial space?

But commercial services in all possible instances and give up building and operating competing government space vehicles. (Response E)

 

8. What do you think is the most important thing that NASA could do to support and promote commercial space?

Push the rocket engine envelope.
CONTEST PROGRAM PROPOSAL
Minimum of 10k lbs thrust for concept (Phase 1)
Minimum of 100k
Isp milestones: 500, 700, 1000, 1200
T/m milestones: 50, 100, 120, 150, 300, 500, 1200, 1500, 2000
Reusable: 50x, 100x, 200x, 500x, 1000x
(Response F)

 

 

8. What do you think is the most important thing that NASA could do to support and promote commercial space?

Commercial space still needs NASA to fund basic technology and build major infrastructure. So oddly enough, the best thing you could do to promote commercial space is to first get a realistic budget for NASA to support all of the things NASA should be doing. This means doing a far better job educating tax payers about the importance of the U.S. remaining #1 in space, especially as Europe, China, India and others are becoming more aggressive and accomplished in space. (Response G)

 

 

8. What do you think is the most important thing that NASA could do to support and promote commercial space?

Provide incentives for commercial companies to further R&D efforts in cooperation with NASA research, in areas such as pharmaceuticals, materials science, life sciences, communications, transportation, enabling technologies for space exploration, etc. Reinstate the Office of Commercial Programs (Code C – NASA HQ) of the 1980s and 90s, and various programs that stimulate commercial interest, such as the CCDSs (Centers for the Commercial Development of Space); the ENCAP program (Environmental Commercial Applications Program) for the development and applications of remote sensing data (could be very powerful in a time of federal and commercial interest in Global Warming); and general outreach and development of various aspects of Commercialization. (Response H)