Despite bleak budget forecasts and the
uncertainty surrounding NASA's human exploration program, opportunities for
commercial space firms are better than they have been in decades, according to
government and industry officials.
Not only do NASA Administrator
Charles Bolden and Deputy Administrator Lori Garver seem to be very supportive
of commercial
space ventures, but the challenging budgetary environment means space
agency officials are searching for innovative ways to meet their goals, said
Jim Muncy, president of Alexandria, Va.-based consultancy PoliSpace and
co-founder of the Space Frontier Foundation.
The
foundation spotlighted the potential for partnerships between NASA and
commercial spaceflight projects during the NewSpace 2009 conference in Mountain
View, Calif., last month.
During her July 8 confirmation
hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee,
Garver said her recent experience working as a consultant in the commercial
sector of the aerospace industry "taught me that the incredible talent and
dedication of the work force not only resides at NASA, but also in private
industry."
Promising
signs
Government
and industry officials point to other promising developments. When White House
Science Adviser John Holdren called in May for a
thorough review of the agency's human spaceflight plans and programs, he cited
"stimulating commercial spaceflight capability" as one of the review board's
primary goals.
Earlier
this month, the committee reviewing NASA's spaceflight plans suggested the
agency set aside $2.5 billion through 2014 to support efforts by commercial
firms to develop new
space vehicles for crew transportation to the International Space Station.
With the United States facing record
deficits, NASA's budget is unlikely to grow during the next few years, a
circumstance that will prevent NASA from undertaking
ambitious programs alone, U.S. space agency officials said.
"In these
fiscally constrained and challenging times. I think you will see a lot more
partnerships with industry and international agencies," John Olson, NASA deputy
for commercial space support and director of the exploration systems
integration office, said during the conference.
Olson
points to the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program and the
related Commercial Resupply Services contracts as two recent examples of the
space agency's commitment to giving entrepreneurs a significant role in NASA
programs.
Beyond
NASA's COTS
After committing
close to $500 million to help Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., and Space
Exploration Technologies Corp. of Hawthorne, Calif., develop rockets and
spacecraft designed
to ferry supplies to the International Space Station, NASA in December
agreed to pay the two companies a combined $3.5 billion to haul 20 tons of
cargo to the station through 2016.
NASA officials also are using Space
Act agreements and Small Business Innovative
Research grants to encourage more large and small companies to participate in
space programs, Olson said.
Those
companies should be aware, however, of some of the potential obstacles they
face in their quest for NASA contracts, a panel of space industry veterans said
July 19.
"NASA is a big organization with a
lot of needs that have to be met. So there are a lot of opportunities," said
Bruce Pittman, flight projects director for the NASA Ames Research Center's
Space Portal, an office here charged with helping private industry work with
NASA. "But government organizations have their own policies and procedures."
Wading
through red tape
Any entrepreneur who wants to win
NASA contracts should become familiar with the federal acquisition regulations,
the rules government agencies follow when buying goods and services, Pittman
added.
In
addition, Pittman warned that government agencies do not move as rapidly as
private firms. "Entrepreneurs are used to doing things quickly," he said.
"Government isn't that way. Even if everyone in an organization wants to
proceed, it takes a long time to see things happen."
Another potential hurdle for
entrepreneurs is the government's reliance on contracts that allow it to modify
requirements midstream, panel members said. Often, government officials are
wary of contracts that set a fixed price for goods or
services, according to Muncy. As a result, NASA often conducts research and
development programs under contracts that pay for the cost of developing a
piece of equipment then add a negotiated fee. "That dramatically raises costs
and stops investment of private resources to meet government goals," Muncy
added.
All these
factors should be taken into account when companies decide whether to compete
for government contracts, said David Livingston, a business consultant and
financial advisor.
"Conduct a
cost-benefit analysis to see if you want to work with the government," he said.
"When you get money from someone,
there are strings attached. Don't forget to look at the risks and the strings."
Spurring
innovation
Nevertheless, there are many people
within government agencies including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
and NASA who are seeking
innovative ways to work with commercial firms, said Ken Davidian, former
commercial development policy lead for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission
Directorate who now works in the FAA's Office of Commercial Space
Transportation in Washington.
"Many of us
inside the agency are trying to learn from past mistakes and trying to be
better customers," said Doug Comstock, director of NASA's Innovative
Partnerships Program, an effort to strengthen alliances with industry,
academia, government agencies and national laboratories.
Davidian advised entrepreneurs to
find the people within government agencies who support their endeavors. "Find
your champions within government," he said, adding that those champions can
help entrepreneurs succeed.
One
champion of private industry is NASA Ames Director Pete Worden, according to the panel members.
"He's created a friendly front door for entrepreneurs," Muncy said.
Worden told the NewSpace audience that he believes NASA should not focus on
developing technology on its own, but should forge alliances with space
industry entrepreneurs, information technology companies and biotechnology
firms. "NASA should be more like [its predecessor] the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics," Worden said. "NASA should midwife new industries."
The space agency has not always
embraced that role, however. Conference participants cited many cases in which NASA did not support entrepreneurs.
Zero Gravity Corp. of Las Vegas, for example, faced stringent requirements for
handling combustion experiments aboard the parabolic flights designed to
support NASA projects even though no such experiments were contemplated, Davidian
said. While detailed requirements often create problems for private firms,
government agencies are willing to pay companies to fulfill those requirements,
he added.
Another
benefit to working with the space agency is that NASA officials will often
support risky research and development projects that are unlikely to be funded
through other sources, Pittman said.
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