KSC Director Eager to Move Into Era of Commercial Space Flight

Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center

Robert Cabana: KSC’s future looks bright
Florida Today

NASA is prepared to aggressively execute President Obama’s plan to develop commercial space taxis and turn Kennedy Space Center into a 21st-century spaceport, officials said Wednesday.

Contracts to develop private-sector spaceships could be issued as early as next summer, and U.S. astronauts could be flying them on round trips to the International Space Station by 2014 or 2015.

In a wide-ranging pitch, broadcast on KSC close- circuit television, Center Director Robert Cabana noted that the plan calls for fundamental changes at KSC.

After 50 years, NASA would relinquish to commercial companies the responsibility for designing, developing and operating the spacecraft flown by U.S. astronauts. But Cabana, a former shuttle pilot and mission commander, said the KSC work force is up to the job.

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