5. Do you have any ideas for future NASA COTS type programs? If yes please briefly describe.

If I were NASA, I would focus near term efforts on Earth Science missions, particularly projects that can help monitor and predict weather and global warming effects. There appears to be a growing political consensus that more resources should be dedicated to such missions and having the private sector participate will help NASA show it is serious about tapping all resources. (Response A)

5. Do you have any ideas for future NASA COTS type programs? If yes please briefly describe.

Many in the space community tend to be very object/program/hardware focused. A move towards a capabilities or effects-based perspective axiomatically yields a number of opportunities for COTS. For example, several nations are involved in lunar exploration missions, and as a result we have 4 groups collecting topographic data. Rather than focusing on procurement of hardware to generate data, focus on procurement of data itself, which in turn, suggests that a commercial enterprise will acquire (either directly or through purchase) the data and in turn provide that to NASA. Similarly, anything that can be commoditized (e.g. data, power, payload) can ultimately be procured through COTS-like mechanisms. (Response B)

5. Do you have any ideas for future NASA COTS type programs? If yes please briefly describe.

I think it should not be just COTS but everything — that NASA should buy most of what it needs (usually as a service) from the commercial sector rather than making or designing its own equipment or implementing and using its own services. (Response C)

5. Do you have any ideas for future NASA COTS type programs? If yes please briefly describe.

1. Reusable sounding rocket to perform upper atmosphere research more than once per day using a single vehicle. 2. Rideshare of NASA payload on commercial spacecraft launches either as free-flyers or as payloads integrated into the commercial spacecraft. (Response D)

5. Do you have any ideas for future NASA COTS type programs? If yes please briefly describe.

• Any kind of data-buy procurement of science or engineering data from vehicles operating in space, focused on the Earth-Moon-Mars arena.
• Ditto for video and images from any of these places.
• Data-transport, communications and navigation services at or near the Moon (supporting spacecraft and systems en route, in lunar orbit and on the surface)
• Delivery of small satellites to the Moon (in orbit or to surface), and eventually lunar sample return(s)
• “Stockpiling” water in LEO; a ‘water depot’; a ‘gasteroid’

(Response E)

5. Do you have any ideas for future NASA COTS type programs? If yes please briefly describe.
• NASA should devote some budget to weekly launches of propellant and living space to orbit for a propellant depot/leasable space. This would provide a consistent market.
• Contract with an operator to manage this propellant and living space, purchase services for use
• NASA should lay out the support services for lunar operations, and contract out for them:
  
  • Electrical Power
  • Precision Navigation & Timing
  • High Quality Geographical Information (GIS)
  • Port Authority
  • Logistics Pre-position
    

(Response F)

5. Do you have any ideas for future NASA COTS type programs? If yes please briefly describe.

Yes. Commercial services to support lunar exploration would build the market beyond LEO. Increased commercial opportunities on the ISS will help to build markets for all sorts of orbital commerce, and increase the demand for commercial space transportation. (Response G)

5. Do you have any ideas for future NASA COTS type programs? If yes please briefly describe.

Communications infrastructure should be provided by industry. This includes communication within LEO, in/around the moon, mars, and possibly, throughout the solar system. NASA should purchase mission bandwidth from industry on an as needed basis. The Mars telecommuncations orbiter should be a privatized program. The same would apply for bandwidth needed for missions to the outer planets. (Response H)

5. Do you have any ideas for future NASA COTS type programs? If yes please briefly describe.

Beamed Power for Space Operations
Design, Construction and Teleoperation of Lunar Robotic Systems
Human-Rated Space Habitation for LEO and beyond (non-dependent upon ISS)
Asteroid Search and Characterization
Asteroid Sample & Return (Response I)