0191-9067/85 $3.00 + .00 Copyright ® 1985 SUNSAT Energy Council COMMERCIAL USE OF SPACE — THE SPACE BUSINESS ERA GERALD D. GRIFFIN Director, NASA/Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas 77058, USA Abstract — The United States is opening a new chapter in the commercial use of space. By fostering new commercial enterprises in space, U.S. knowledge and technology shall focus and move from exploration to exploitation, from experimentation to expanded profitable commercial uses. By expanding partnerships with government, industry and academia, the U.S. intends to bring the benefits of space to the people of the world in many commercial forms; new and unique goods and services; self-sustaining space ventures; new avenues for ingenuity and creativity; new ways of doing things on Earth; overall economic growth. Over the next several years, the U.S. will facilitate the expansion of commercial uses of space through the specific actions resulting from the strong national policy put in place by President Reagan. The U.S. Space Transportation System and the new Space Station concept will serve as important cornerstones in carrying out the President's policy in the commercial use of space. I. INTRODUCTION Mr. Ian Pryke, the head of the Washington Office of the European Space Agency said on March 1 of this year: ... in both Europe and the USA the Spacelab Programme is considered the largest and most successful example of international 'space' cooperation in history. Our Administrator, Mr. Beggs, said that the Spacelab mission was the most significant NASA accomplishment of the year. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Spacelab, Spacelab is a reusable orbital facility, designed and built in Europe with European funds under the direction of ESA. It provides a pressurized, “shirt-sleeve” laboratory, an unpressurized platform and various support services. Its purpose is to provide ready access to space for a broad spectrum of experimenters in many fields and from many nations. 1 think Mr. Pryke's praise of the international cooperative effort is high praise indeed as we view ESA as a major contributor to the strength of the European aerospace industry. As we progress farther into a Space Business Era, it will be international partnerships, such as between ESA and NASA, and between Government, Industry and Academia, that will “size” the commercial use of space. II. NASA's ROLE IN THE COMMERCIAL USE OF SPACE How do we develop this new way of doing business? President Reagan, in his State of the Union Address of January 25, 1984 and in his National Space Policy of July 4, 1982, made the expansion of private investment and Keynote Address: U.S. Space Technology Conference and Exhibition, Zurich, Switzerland, June 19-21, 1984.
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