1. What statement best describes your interest in space? Please mark (or highlite with red font) all that apply to you
a. Supplier of space launch services or hardware/software
b. Supplier of ground processing or support services or hardware
c. Supplier of space based assets or services
d. Buyer/user of space services (e.g., biotech, material science, earth science)
e. Financier (Angel, VC, investment banking, etc.)
f. Media/entertainment representative
g. Other
2. Do you know about the NASA COTS program? (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services)
a. No or not much (if no skip to #7)
b. Have heard about it
c. Some knowledge
d. Very familiar
3. Did you or your organization apply for a NASA COTS award?
a. Yes
b. No
4. Do you think NASA should offer other COTS type programs?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Don’t know
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.
6. Do you think the NASA COTS program could be improved? If so how?
Program is fine except selection process should be more independent of NASA and politics. Suggest using National Academy for technical review plus outside experts for business/financial review.
7. What do you see as the biggest barrier/obstacle to commercial space?
(a) High launch costs, (b) long zero revenue, zero cash flow periods during construction, launch and in-orbit check out phases hurt investor returns and require very patient investors, and (c) investors face same commercial and competitive risks as terrestrial companies in addition to unique and sometimes uninsurable space risks, additional regulations plus frequent direct competition from the government.
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.
9 Any other comments or suggestions regarding commercial space?
In addition to important COTS type programs, a more serious prize program is needed. It is far easier for NASA to offer prizes to whomever accomplishes a major space objective than to pick winners and losers from dozens of unproven entrepreneurial companies. But such prizes are meaningless unless they are very large and provide a huge “gold rush” type response. It needs to be a “XXX” Prize not an X Prize. The current prize levels will do little to spur innovation and investment.
10. Name and contact information for follow-up (optional):
Name: Hoyt Davidson
Organization: Near Earth LLC