NASA and the Private Sector

With the end of the 30-year Space Shuttle program, there is a void in space travel. Since the federally-regulated program won’t have any shuttles to get its crew into space, it will have to rely on third-party candidates. Currently, US space crews have to catch a ride on space rockets from other countries, a costly and inefficient way of doing things. With the 2011 budget cuts, a focus on doing more with less is becoming clear. The US economy is in a recession, and NASA can’t afford to spend $50 million per passenger to use other countries’ rockets indefinitely. To work around this problem, NASA is investing money in the private sector. It is investing in several companies, with the intention that multiple companies will result in competition, leading to lower prices and more technological advances in the space travel field. NASA organizes competitions for best designed spacecrafts, and awards the best choice with a large sum of initial “seed” money. In 2010, Sierra Nevada Space Systems won the largest award yet: $20 million out of a total of $50 million. This influx of money into private industries is creating a new economy, one that will someday be responsible for commercial space travel.

Picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SpaceX_Dragon.jpg

Link: http://www.spacex.com/

Source: Nusca, Andrew. "NASA Helps Private Companies Launch New Spacecraft | SmartPlanet." SmartPlanet. SmartPlanet, 02 Feb. 2011. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. <http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/nasa-helps-private-companies-launch-new-spacecraft/14080>.