Rethinking public–private space travel

A Proposed Approach for Idea Selection in Front End of Innovation Activities

“…principles allowed Musk to drastically decrease the cost to build and deliver cargo more effectively than established companies such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin (Anderson, 2013).…”

Value-Driven Analysis of New Paradigms in Space Architectures: An Ilities-Based Approach

“…He asserts that the public versus private argument is a "false dichotomy," 5 and that the greatest benefits lie not in choosing one over the other but in partnerships. Such alliances allow both parties to leverage their core competencies and complement each other's strengths; for example, by paying companies like SpaceX to perform more mundane tasks like LEO payload delivery and ISS resupply, NASA can then direct more funds to deep-space science and exploration activities that are exciting but lack a clear profit motive.…”

“…In fact, one NASA report estimated that SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle was developed for a third of the cost that would have been required of a public program. 5 Furthermore, NASA has found great success in its new Space Act Agreements, in which NASA has agreed to pay private spaceflight firms in increments as they achieve set milestones in technology development and operational readiness. This is a far more advantageous arrangement than more traditional "cost-plus" contracts, which simply pay a contracted firm the cost of the project plus a pre-determined percentage of the cost on top.…”

“…While the partnerships forged under Space Act Agreements have yet to come fully to fruition, it is already believed that they are largely successful in avoiding the cost overruns and delayed development cycles often encountered under cost-plus arrangements. 5 Next, Gong et. al.…”

“…NASA especially has had considerable success contracting out its servicing missions to the International Space Station under the Space Act Agreements, and this contract vehicle may serve as a path to contracting other activities as well. 5 The underlying premise of increased commercialization of space is that risk is shifted from the government to the contractor in exchange for possible return on investment commensurate with other high-risk activities performed in the private sector. Of course, there are still some core activities which would be deemed too expensive, risky, or vital to security to be transferred to the private sector, but several activities, like space weather, terrestrial weather, high-bandwidth communications, expendable launch, and even precision navigation and timing, are now at the point in their technological maturation that private industry would be willing to accept all of the known risks in the pursuit of profits.…”