SFF, CSF Praise Obama’s NASA Plan

The Space Frontier Foundation and the Commercial Spaceflight Federation released statements this week praising President Obama’s plan for NASA, which involves canceling the Ares program and funding commercial vehicles  to carry astronauts into Earth orbit.

Space Frontier Foundation

The Space Frontier Foundation today praised the White House’s decision to cancel NASA’s failed Ares rocket programs and instead invest in private enterprise systems “inspirational” and “a giant leap in the right direction.”

“The reforms announced yesterday fix some of the worst errors of the Bush Vision of Space Exploration,” said Foundation chairman Bob Werb. “More than that, they make NASA exciting and relevant again. Canceling the expensive, ill-fated Ares 1 rocket opens the door for private enterprise to create a safe, reliable and low-cost commercial spaceflight industry, with government as a customer and partner instead of a competitor.”

The Space Frontier Foundation has been fighting to kill Ares I for years. We predicted this disaster in 2006 , put out press releases, op-eds and worked with our many friends inside NASA, Congress, and both large and small NewSpace companies.

“Our Mind the Space Gap campaign emphasized that Ares was a boondoggle that guaranteed sending more taxpayer money to Russia to pay for Astronaut visits to a space station we mostly paid for,” continued Werb. “Now the NewSpace industry must step up and fill the Gap, creating jobs and innovation here in America.”

“Finally, America’s space agency is starting to behave like it belongs in a capitalist country,” Werb added. “Charlie Bolden and Lori Garver are showing faith in free enterprise and we will not disappoint them.”

The Space Frontier Foundation recently announced “Take Back Your Space Program!,” a year-long campaign in which citizens will visit their representatives in Congress to advocate for policies that help open the space frontier.

“Since Congress recently attempted to tie President Obama’s hands and prevent him from changing Bush’s Moon program in any way, it’s essential that the American people urge legislators to support these reforms and stop any further waste of money on Ares ASAP,” said project manager Mike Heney. “This turkey is never going to fly and we should stop throwing good money after bad.”

“Take Back Your Space Program” begins with First Flight, scheduled for the week of February 7-12, 2010.

Citizens who want to help open the space frontier are invited to join the group for First Flight. All volunteers must be US citizens 18 years or older. Volunteers must commit to attend a training on Sunday, Feb. 7 and participate in at least two Congressional office visits during the week. For more information and registration, visit the Take Back Your Space Program website.

Bretton Alexander
President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation

“NASA investment in the commercial spaceflight industry is a win-win decision: commercial crew will create thousands of high-tech jobs in the United States, especially in Florida, while reducing the spaceflight gap and preventing us from sending billions to Russia. This is on par with the early days of aviation and the U.S. Airmail Act, which spurred the growth of an entire new industry that now adds billions to the US economy every year.

“At a time when job creation is the top priority for our nation, a commercial crew program will create more jobs per dollar because it leverages millions in private investment and taps the potential of systems that serve both government and private customers. We have a tremendous opportunity here to jump-start private activity in low-Earth orbit that will further lower the cost of access to space and unleash the economic potential of space long promised.

“Working with NASA, industry can develop the capabilities to safely launch U.S. astronauts jst as commercial spaceflight providers are already trusted by the U.S. government right now to launch multi-billion dollar military satellites, upon which the security of our Nation and lives of our troops overseas depend. Investing $6 billion will fund a full program of multiple winners for commercial crew, so that robust competition in the marketplace can reduce costs and generate innovation. We are excited to see such a significant commitment from the Obama Administration and NASA leadership for pursuing this important initiative for NASA and the nation.”