NewSpace Journal » Organizations

Other conference announcements

Jeff Foust — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:46:23 +0000

Besides the developments by several vehicle operators, there have been a number of other announcements by various organizations at the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference. The biggest, in the plenary speech by NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver, is that NASA has requested $15 million for the Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research (CRuSR) program in its FY11 budget. That’s a major increase over the $2.5 million the program is getting in the current fiscal year, split among the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), Science Mission Directorate (SMD), and the Innovative Partnerships Program (IPP). The $15 million in the FY11 budget proposal would come entirely from IPP. In addition, Garver said the five-year budget plan funds CRuSR at the same level throughout the period (although that is subject to change from year to year.)

Other organizations are putting up money for suborbital research as well. The Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) announced it’s allocating $1 million to commercial suborbital research efforts, specifically to “build and fly experiments with SwRI payload specialists on next-generation suborbital vehicles.” This effort is led by Alan Stern, who has been one of the leading proponents of “research and education market” (REM) uses of commercial suborbital vehicles.

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation, meanwhile, is expanding its membership to include academic affiliates. Purdue University, Johns Hopkins University, Princeton University, and George Mason University are the initial four institutions affiliating themselves with the CSF, a NewSpace industry organization.

What’s in a name

Jeff Foust — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:35:00 +0000

This week the Personal Spaceflight Federation announced it was changing its name to the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and unveiled a new web site at the commercialspaceflight.org domain name. Why the change from the PSF to the CSF? According to the industry association, it’s a recognition that the companies who are members do more than personal spaceflight (aka “space tourism”): “There are so many uses for commercial access to space, and we want to emphasize the broad cross-section of potential markets for our membersâ€™ products and services,” CSF president Brett Alexander said in the statement.

I had heard a few weeks earlier that this name change was in the works. One reason for the change is that, as the statement notes, members companies are not exclusively focused on space tourism. Another reason, though, may have been that the term “personal spaceflight” really hasn’t gained wide acceptance in the field, or the general public. While some might cringe at “space tourism”, you’re still far more likely to hear that term as opposed to “personal spaceflight” or other alternatives. And if you have to explain what “personal spaceflight” is every time you use the term, it may be time to switch gears.

(I will add here that while that may be the case for the PSF/CSF, I have no immediate plans to change the name of this blog.)

The CSF also announced yesterday that Mark Sirangelo is the new chairman of the organization, succeeding Alex Tai of Virgin Galactic, who is stepping down after completing a three-year term. Sirangelo is currently executive vice president of Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC); he had been chairman and CEO of SpaceDev prior to that company’s acquisition by SNC.

The Spaceport America Institute

Jeff Foust — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:20:13 +0000

At the opening of dinner last night at the ISPCS in Las Cruces, Steve Landeene, executive director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, made a couple of announcements. One was the confirmation that the authority was completing a final agreement with Virgin Galactic for use of Spaceport America, as reported yesterday. The second was the formation of the Spaceport America Institute (SAI), a new non-profit organization. SAI is intended to be “catalyst for developing a reservoir of educationally valuable content from narratives, videography, digital images, operational data, and online exchanges.” Having an external organization, Landeene explained, gives it additional flexibility in obtaining funding for these educational efforts.

Scaled family support fund

Jeff Foust — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 19:06:11 +0000

Courtesy of the NSS is the following information about a fund to support the families of those killed and injured in the Thursday explosion in Mojave:

Scaled has announced information on a fund for those who wish to support the families of the deceased as well as the injured and their families.

The National Space Society urges all of its members and the broader space community to give generously to support these heroes.

Please send contributions to:
Scaled Family Support Fund
c/o Scaled Composites
1624 Flight Line
Mojave, CA. 93501

Acct # 04157-66832

Wire transfer ABA Routing #1220-0066-1

Please make checks payable to the account
number or to the name of the fund.

The NSS has also issued its own statement about the accident:

America was built on the courage of those who dared to explore new frontiers. From Lewis and Clark to the Apollo astronauts, great men and women have tested themselves against the frontiers of their age.

In the course of their efforts, these heroes may pay the ultimate cost, as they did yesterday in Mojave. When that happens, it is the highest duty of all of us to care for the injured, to mourn the departed, and to care for the families. An honest investigation must be conducted to learn what went wrong, and to fix the cause so that it does not happen again.

But when the investigation finished, our duty is to carry on the work of those heroes, to redouble our efforts to scale the peaks that they were climbing. That is what we learned from Apollo 1. That is what they would want.

The frontier of space is far from tamed. The men and women of Scaled Composites are engaged in one of the great efforts of our time: opening space for all humanity. That is a noble pursuit, perhaps the most noble of all, and we must all be thankful for their work, and for their sacrifice.

Let us not shirk from what happened yesterday. Professionals will find the cause. The program will continue. The effort to open space cannot be stopped. Now is the time to honor those men by honoring the cause that they were engaged in. Those of us who are part of this great endeavor, whether as participants or as supporters, let us carry forward this message of perseverance to our own communities, to our elected leaders and to the media. Now more than ever, the nation needs to hear your voices.

PSF updates its Mojave statement

Jeff Foust — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 13:46:30 +0000

The Personal Spaceflight Federation issued Saturday an updated statement on Thursday’s accident in Mojave. The statement builds upon the brief statement issued by the organization and includes these key bullet points:

We will always be open and honest to the public and our customers about the risks of our activities and about any incidents that may occur.
If there is an incident, a proper and methodical investigation will be conducted to determine the cause.
We will apply the lessons of the investigation now underway and work to prevent this from happening again.
We will persevere – we believe that we can best honor those pioneers who were involved by carrying on their work.

The statement is signed by representatives of 16 of the PSF’s member organizations, including Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites and Alex Tai of Virgin Galactic. The PSF has 18 members; the two organizations not included in the latest statement are Blue Origin and the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority.