The use of the ET in space is limited only by the imagination. Making large massive objects available to customers will open space based operations to every interested party at a reasonable cost. The overall possibilities presented by flying the ET are diverse and extremely valuable to all concerned. VIII. Recommendations This report concludes that it is in the best interest of the United States to take the ET into orbit and store it there permanenetly as soon as possible. This will make large scale space operations affordable. Three general recommendations follow: 1. Quickly insert the ET into a permanent storage facility in a relatively high earth orbit. 2. Arrive at a pricing policy that covers the cost of orbital storage and maintenance. Sales cost should cover only the cost of storage. The purchase agreement should simply define ownership issues. The government should not attempt to recover all costs of the last 25 years of spending on the space program through sales of the ET. The intent is to expand space capability. This is best done commercially. It can not be done if the sales costs are set arbitrarily high. 3. Design and fly the ACC as an enhancement of the STS. This will provide additional cargo space at a very low costs. The external tank is an extremely flexible and potentially valuable enhancement of the space program. There is no other action that can be taken today to expand space capability that will cost so little and provide so much potential. The choice to use the ET will be a welcome addition to the American space program that will pay for itself many times over in the years to come. The tank should be flown to permanent orbital storages for future use early and often.
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