NASA needs new leadership and guidance to ensure that the foundations of its programs, including the Artemis program, do not fail in their increased reliance on the commercial sector to accomplish tasks in a timely and cost-effective manner. I need it.
NASA's policy of outsourcing many of its services to commercial units on fixed-price contracts dates back to the George W. Bush administration, but fully blossomed in 2020 with the SpaceX Crew Dragon's first flight to the International Space Station. .
Beyond Crew Dragon, NASA has contracted out everything from lunar landers to spacesuits in a similar manner, and has taken a traditional cost-plus approach to some legacy programs, such as the Space Launch System. is reserved. however,Ars Technica recently reportedsome setbacks are occurring at space agencies that are hampering commercial approaches and on the verge of failure.
One strategy for making commercial contracts work is for NASA to issue minimal requirements and have minimal oversight (a few hundred pages and a few dozen NASA employees at most). Therefore, companies contracted to provide goods and services to NASA are free to do so at an agreed-upon fixed price amount.
Commercial approaches have proven successful in the following areas:Commercial orbital transportation servicesandcommercial crewHowever, the latter experienced the failure of Boeing Starliner. However, subsequent commercial programs funded by NASA encountered several problems, many of which were caused by space agency administrators.
Arts Technica reports that “some new commercial programs are skipping the COTS development phase entirely and entering the service phase directly, even though contractors are still developing the hardware.” Masu.
He added that NASA “seems to be funding at a much lower cost ratio than it did for cargo and crew programs,” adding that “many of the new programs have no short-term customers other than the government; NASA is not like that.” It's the only customer among many. ”
Ars Technica suggests that fundamental developments are occurring at the heart of commercial approaches.
“And perhaps most importantly, NASA is imposing requirements on companies. NASA is adding and changing requirements, imposing thousands, not hundreds, of requirements on contractors. There is.”
The problem is that many NASA managers like Kathy Lueders, who ran the commercial crew office and championed the fixed-price commercial approach, no longer work for the space agency. Costs are rising, deadlines are being exceeded, and the viability of the Artemis program that will return astronauts to the moon and eventually Mars, as old-school conservatives reassert themselves and push for the old ways. sexuality is threatened.
Bill Nelson, a former senator from Florida, was chosen to be NASA administrator because of his political experience and the fact that he embraced the commercial approach he had previously opposed. But he could be criticized for allowing a backlash against commercial fixed-price contracts to take hold on his watch.
The change in government appears to have come at the perfect time.
Obviously, one of the first tasks is toGovernment Efficiency BureauThe organization run by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswami needs to dig deep into NASA and figure out why it appears to be abandoning a model that works in favor of one that doesn't. The first model created the Crew Dragon, which was a huge success with both NASA and the commercial sector. The second rocket created the Space Launch System, an expensive rocket that first launched two years ago and won't be launched for at least another year.
We're also fortunate that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will be chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees NASA. Mr. Cruise has a strong interest in promoting the commercial space as well as NASA programs. His state is home to both of NASA's Johnson Space Flight Centers in Houston. and the SpaceX Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica. Mr. Cruise would be well-suited to schedule a hearing on the status of administration of NASA's commercial fixed-price program.
Finally, President-elect Trump should name a new NASA administrator, and the sooner the better. The person must have a clear understanding of the role commercial space plays in advancing NASA's mission. He or she should, with the support of the next administration and a new Congress, fix the problem and get the space agency back into orbit.
The future of America's role in space depends on it.
Mark R. Whittington writes,Why is it difficult to return to the moon?” Similarly “To the moon, Mars and beyond”, and more recently”Why will America return to the moon?” He blogs at:Karma John's Corner.
