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NASA has agreed to advise the two companies left out of the COTS contracts. PlanetSpace and Transformational Space, or T/Space, were left out of the $500 million COTS space station resupply contract, but they are not going to be left out of NASA's experience.
They will not receive any funding but they will be given agency feedback which could keep hopes of winning resupply jobs to the international space station after the space shuttles are retired in 2010.
In a written statement, Scott Horowitz, NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems, said the agency was "proud to reach agreements with two more private companies dedicating their own resources toward establishment of a robust commercial launch industry."
COTS, or Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, is NASA way of getting private space into NASA business by awarding payments based on progress milestones in the hopes of getting a substantially cheaper orbital launch service.
SpaceX and RocketPlane/Kislter won the COTS program and are working toward their first milestones currently.
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space (spās)
n.
1. space beyond the atmosphere of the earth.
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prag·ma·tism (prgm-tzm)
n.
A way of approaching situations or solving problems that emphasizes practical applications and consequences.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
NASA Agrees to Advise T/Space and PlanetSpace
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1 comment:
It's good to see NASA outsourcing more and more of its activities towards the private sector.
I have a funny feeling that as space becomes more routine for the general population, NASA will morph into a space regulatory agency, with the private sector taking over lunar and (hopefully) Martian missions in the distant future.
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