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: News and Information
g. Other (Space Travel Agent)
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.
Commercial space station outsourcing. Commercial lunar cargo and people delivery. That is, consider outsourcing at the highest possible level of functional need. Need to get people to point on lunar surface. Need to get life support to point on lunar surface. Not need ship of this specification. Separate out safety watchdog role and prime contractor role from space customer role. Enable NASA to focus more on being a consumer like a business traveler, less like an airline, less like an aircraft manufacturer, less like a government specifier of aircraft specifications. Obviously there are several intermediate steps here since being like a manufacturer or an airline would be progress from what we have now.
6. Do you think the NASA COTS program could be improved? If so how?
Credibly commit to purchasing from COTS vendors if they succeed and only buy options on non-COTS alternatives.
7. What do you see as the biggest barrier/obstacle to commercial space?
Demand is insufficient to justify commercial investment without guarantors. Figure out how to make space pay. What’s the killer app that will get everyone to want to move to space or invest in space? Otherwise space will stay at 0.2% of GDP or fall further.
One idea is to start talking about the next global heating problem: in 400 years at the current growth rate, more waste heat energy will be produced by humanity than the solar flux. At that point, we would either need to block the sun, move off planet or move all new growth in energy use off planet. If we focus on the inevitability of space colonization, people will want to get started on it. Re-spark manifest destiny.
8. What do you think is the most important thing that NASA could do to support and promote commercial space?
Offer a generalized prize for weight and money saving innovations for human space activities. Offer a bounty to analysts that propose changes that are subsequently adopted for accomplishing the same thing with less expense.
9 Any other comments or suggestions regarding commercial space?
Support suborbital teachers in space legislation being promoted by Space Frontier Foundation.
10. Name and contact information for follow-up (optional):
Name: Sam Dinkin
Organization: Space Shot, Inc.