Former Martin Marietta CEO: Private Sector Human Spaceflight…Yeah, Right!

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Young Hits U.S. Spaceflight Plan
Space News

One of the aerospace industry’s most widely respected experts told House lawmakers March 24 that NASA’s proposal to rely on commercial crew taxis for operations in low Earth orbit is too risky and urged Congress not to approve the plan.

During a hearing before the House Science and Technology space and aeronautics subcommittee, former Martin Marietta Chief Executive A. Thomas Young said NASA should continue the Moon-bound Constellation program President Barack Obama proposed canceling in his 2011 budget request. Young said the Obama plan would leave the nation reliant on a private sector that is “a long way” from satisfying human space transportation needs….

Young said the U.S. Air Force tried something similar in the 1990s, ceding top-level management of national security space programs to industry under a contracting approach called Total System Performance Responsibility (TSPR).

“Air Force and [National Reconnaissance Office] project managers were told to step back, to not interfere and to let industry have total responsibility,” he said. “The results were devastating, and the adverse impact is still with us today.”

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