Obama Pushes Private Space Ferries

The Obama administration, in one of its few nods to private industry, is asking NASA to fund private companies on the order of $3.5 billion to develop private transport to orbit. It is rumored that they may add $1 billion to NASA's budget begging in October of 2010.

This is good news to companies like SpaceX, who are already set to receive $1.6 billion to develop and test their Falcon 9 rocket under the COTS program.

They are also, not surprisingly, seeking international support in developing rockets to land on the Moon and Mars.

Like the old Vulcan proverb, Only Nixon can go to China...