Debate: Obama's Space Privatization Plan Is a Costly Mistake

(April 15) -- President Barack Obama is in Florida today to argue his case for privatizing the human spaceflight program. It will be a tough sell. The president's vision for privatizing American space exploration may sound appealing initially, but it rests on flawed assumptions and could result in the United States surrendering our lead in space exploration to our international competitors, including China and Russia.

The president has proposed a radical restructuring of U.S. space policy, which includes the termination of the next phase of the human spaceflight program, known as the Constellation program. The Constellation program is the architecture developed to deliver American astronauts to the International Space Station -- and later to the moon and other destinations in our solar system -- following the retirement of the space shuttle program, which is on pace to fly its last mission late this year or early next year.

In place of Constellation, the Obama administration supports the development of commercial capabilities for delivering Americans to the space station and beyond. This may sound good rhetorically, but it fails to meet the standards of sound space policy.

The president's plan to privatize space exploration rests on ill-defined objectives and unsubstantiated assumptions. For instance, the administration has not adequately explained where the space program's shifted trajectory will lead our nation and cannot explain how its plan affects our nation's previously established goals of returning humans to the moon by 2020 and some day sending astronauts to Mars and beyond.

Without clearly defined goals, including specific destinations and timelines for reaching them, how can we ensure that taxpayers are receiving an adequate return on their investments in space exploration? It is simply unwise to carry out such a dramatic shift in how our nation conducts space exploration without a clear objective in mind.

More concerning is the administration's inability to explain what assumptions were used in developing its proposed commercial crew-delivery strategy.

In testimony before the House Science and Technology Committee on Feb. 25, NASA administrator Charles Bolden admitted that his agency had not conducted a single market survey on the potential costs of privatizing space exploration. Instead, the administration relied solely on information provided by the aerospace industry when formulating its plans for privatizing the human spaceflight program. While these estimates may indeed be accurate, we cannot know for sure what the potential costs associated with this dramatic move will be without independent, unbiased estimates.

Simply put, the president's vision lacks clearly defined objectives and metrics for measuring success. The administration cannot adequately explain where the space program's shifted focus will lead. And the president's justification for privatizing human space exploration relies on the proverbial fox guarding the hen house. The American people deserve better.

The Constellation program is not perfect. But putting all of our eggs in a private-sector basket is simply too risky a gamble. If the president's plan is implemented, we would be jeopardizing our nation's lead in space exploration, and we would be jeopardizing our children's future.

The space program encourages us to reach for the stars in both our dreams and our actions. It helps drive innovation, and it challenges us to find creative solutions to technological challenges. Moreover, it inspires America's next generation of scientists and engineers to pursue their passions -- something we must have if our nation is to compete in the 21st century global economy.

The president's plan to privatize our spaceflight program will hinder our nation's ability to remain at the forefront of human achievement for generations to come. We must reconsider.

Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., is chairman of the House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation.