A New Look for Space Missions

The U.S. space program hasn’t been soaring recently, what with Wednesday’s explosion of a $1-billion spy satellite and Congress’ harsh rebuke of NASA last week (its third in as many months) for allowing the Russians to run up yet another $100-million cost overrun on the international space station.

Fortunately, however, both the Titan 4A rocket that exploded over Cape Canaveral and the space station represent the kind of old-style programs that Congress and the Clinton administration are beginning to reject.

The old space program prohibited private companies from using advanced launch vehicles and from competing for government contracts; the new program will require the government to give launch contracts to private bidders. The old space program often funded projects that had scant strategic or scientific merit but that inspired patriotic values; the new one requires NASA to demonstrate the practical payoff of each mission for which it seeks public money.

Ushering in most of these changes is the Commercial Space Act, which Congress passed just before heading off on its August recess. It requires the federal government to award launch contracts to private bidders, allows private spacecraft to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere over U.S. territory and permits American companies to convert excess ballistic missiles into commercial launch vehicles.

All of this may sound unwise given recent concerns in Congress that political adversaries are gaining access to proprietary U.S. information, such as in the case of a recent transfer of sensitive launch technology to China. But it was precisely those concerns that led Congress to pass the Commercial Space Act.

Current laws, by allowing a few companies to monopolize the domestic satellite launching industry, have encouraged companies like Hughes Electronics and Loral Space & Communications Ltd. to launch their high-tech satellites in countries like China where launch fees are much cheaper. Another U.S. law, prohibiting commercial space vehicles from reentering the Earth’s atmosphere with a reusable payload, explains why Kistler Aerospace will be testing its new K-1 reusable launch vehicle not near its Washington state headquarters but in Womera, Australia, instead.

The space act, which has Defense Department support, will sensibly change these restrictive laws. America’s new space industry may not be as inspiring as Neil Armstrong’s “giant leap for mankind” but will surely reap greater economic and scientific rewards.