Office of Space Flight Background-White House Led Range Study (cont.) Purpose: To develop national strategy for future management and use of US space launch bases and ranges Focus on appropriate division of roles & responsibilities between USG and US commercial space sector including spaceports Intended to result in recommendations to the President on policy, law, budgets
Office of Space Flight Spaceport and Range Technology
Development Initiative Al Sofge NASA Headquarters May 15, 2001
Office of Space Flight Background-White House Led Range Study White
House-led Interagency Review on the Future Management and Use of
the U.S. Space Launch Bases and Ranges kicked off in March 1999
Co-chaired by National Security Council and Office of Science and
Technology Policy Review limited to Air Force Eastern and Western
Ranges Participants included: OMB, DoD, USAF, NRO, DOC, DOT, NASA
Commerce Business Daily Announcement requesting input from the
non-govt community Office of Space Flight Background-White House
Led Range Study (cont.) Purpose: To develop national strategy for
future management and use of US space launch bases and ranges Focus
on appropriate division of roles & responsibilities between USG
and US commercial space sector including spaceports Intended to
result in recommendations to the President on policy, law, budgets
Office of Space Flight Representative List of Respondents to
Commerce Business Daily Announcement Requesting Input Accomack
County, VA Aerospace Industries Association Astrotech Boeing Joint
Investment Team California Space and Technology Alliance Command
and Control Technologies Corporation Directorate of Aerospace Fuels
Management, Kelly AFB, TX George Mason University Institute of
Public Policy Lockheed Martin Moonspace Corporation National Space
Society Orbital Sciences Corporation Practical Innovations
International, Inc. Quantum Technology Services, Inc. Spaceport
Systems International Somerset County Commissioners, MD ACTA,
safety contractor at Vandenberg AFB, CA United Paradyne Corporation
Universal Space Networks Universal Synaptics VA Commercial Space
Flight Authority Wicomico County, MD Office of Space Flight
Background-White House Led Range Study (cont.) Final study report
contained six recommendations with multiple desired outcomes Report
recommendations were approved by the President OSTP and NSC
co-signed an implementation memo on June 12, 2000, directing the
appropriate Cabinet Secretaries and the NASA Administrator to
implement the recommendations Office of Space Flight Study
Recommendations Recommendation 1: Propose alternative management
structures to allow commercial and government users of the U.S.
space launch bases and ranges adequate opportunity to communicate
their requirements so they can be considered and factored into
decisions on improvements and operations with the goals of
providing greater user voice and improving operational flexibility.
Recommendation 2: Pursue means of improving efficiencies in range
operations. Office of Space Flight Study Recommendations (cont.)
Recommendation 3: Encourage, permit, and maximize use of nonfederal
funding sources (especially from states and spaceports) for the
continued maintenance and modernization of the space launch bases
and ranges to meet national needs for space transportation.
Recommendation 4: Explore options for replacing the excess capacity
constraint in the current policy and legal framework, while
retaining priority access for national security and critical civil
sector missions, to allow a more complete partnership to develop
between the federal government and the U.S. commercial space
sector, including states and spaceports. Office of Space Flight
Study Recommendations (cont.) Recommendation 5: Develop common
range safety requirements for government, civil, and commercial
launches at federal and nonfederal launch sites and ensure that FAA
resources are commensurate with its statutory requirements and
safety responsibilities. Office of Space Flight Study
Recommendations (cont.) Recommendation 6: The Air Force and NASA
should develop a plan to examine, explore, and proceed with
next-generation range technology development and demonstration,
with a focused charter to improve safety, increase flexibility and
capacity, and lower costs for reusable and expendable launch
vehicles. NASA should designate KSC as a National Center for next-
generation RLV range technology development and demonstration,
while the U.S. Air Force remains the overarching authority for
Eastern and Western Range architecture. Office of Space Flight
Study Recommendations (cont.) Recommendation 6-Desired Outcome:
NASA and the AF should agree on plans to coordinate, develop, demo
next-generation range technologies and set goals for
next-generation range technologies to: -Improve safety -Reduce
costs by orders of magnitude -More efficiently support RLV and ELV
operations -Enable high launch rate ops using next-generation RLVs
Office of Space Flight National Need to Coordinate Advanced Range
Technology Development The Advanced Range Technology Working Group
(ARTWG) co-chaired by NASA and AF was formed First meeting March 1
at KSC Coordinate range technology development on National level
State Spaceports, industry, other govt org and academia
participated The ARTWG is focused on range technology Office of
Space Flight Spaceport vs Range Spaceport = Launch base Range =
Tracking, range safety function, telemetry Supporting
Infrastructure = Can support either or both Office of Space Flight
Advanced Spaceport Technology Development A similar need exists to
coordinate on a National level advanced spaceport technology
development The Advanced Spaceport Technology Working Group (ASTWG)
will focus on advanced spaceport technology development Chaired by
NASA Participation by/inputs from AF, other govt org, State
Spaceports, industry, academia
