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
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.
The money that is generally not made available to engineers is the money required by them to present their programs to get more financing. Scientists advance the engineering and know with “engineering” certainty that something can be scaled, but they will have no money with which to approach people in the finance industry to frame their product into a fundable private investment. A seed investment program limited to just this portion of the funding equation would help advance and bring focus to the engineering and the science.
6. Do you think the NASA COTS program could be improved? If so how?
See #5. Each engineering team would have their shot at spending the money themselves but only on the outside resources needed to frame their proposals for future funding. Depending on the complexity, each “team” would be granted between $100,000 and $600,000 and the end product would always be a business plan, an information memorandum, and at least a few strategic and money source presentations (to keep the whole process viable). Boondogles would be limited because engineering teams would always have their reputation on the line.
7. What do you see as the biggest barrier/obstacle to commercial space?
See #5.
8. What do you think is the most important thing that NASA could do to support and promote commercial space?
See #5.
9. Any other comments or suggestions regarding commercial space?
For the USA as a whole, the vision associated with building and maintaining a 1 GW electricity generating plant on the moon and sending this energy back to earth for consumption has to become the common focus. Only then is there energy to operate lunar telecommunication and observation posts.
10. Name and contact information for follow-up (optional):
Name: John Vornle
Organization: Long Term Capital Company