Washington, D.C., Monday, September 12, 2011 – The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is pleased to support a letter on NASA Space Technology funding, signed by 45 companies, nonprofits, and research universities, which was delivered to Congress last week.

The letter states, “The Space Technology program is a critical investment in NASA’s future, our nation’s future in space, and America’s technology leadership position in the world.” The letter notes, “We write in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Technology program for fiscal year (FY) 2012. We urge you to support the program at a level of at least $535 million plus costs to cover the NASA labor transition. … As recognized by Congress in the America COMPETES Act, our nation’s economic competitiveness and high standard of living are based on decades of investment in innovation, research, and technology. Through space technology, NASA will stimulate the economy and build America’s global economic competitiveness through the creation of new products and services, new businesses and industries, and highquality, sustainable jobs across NASA Centers, universities, and both small and large businesses.”

The full text of the letter can be found at:
http://commercialspaceflight.org/Other%20Content/NASA%20Space%20Technology%20Letter%20of%20Support,%20Senate.pdf

Copies of the letter were sent to both the House and Senate.

About the Commercial Spaceflight Federation

The mission of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) is to promote the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursue ever-higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the industry. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s member companies, which include commercial spaceflight developers, operators, spaceports, suppliers, and service providers, are creating thousands of high-tech jobs nationwide, working to preserve American leadership in aerospace through technology innovation, and inspiring young people to pursue careers in science and engineering. For more information please visit www.commercialspaceflight.org or contact Executive Director John Gedmark at john@commercialspaceflight.org or at 202.349.1121.

September 8, 2011

The Honorable Barbara Mikulski
Chairman
Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science
503 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison
Ranking Member
Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science
284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Chairman Mikulski and Ranking Member Hutchison,

On behalf of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, universities, both small and large businesses in the aerospace industry, and the spacescience research community, we write in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Technology program for fiscal year (FY) 2012. We urge you to support the program at a level of at least $535 million plus costs to cover the NASA labor

transition. Space Technology is a critical priority for several reasons: 1. It enables our future in space. By investing in highpayoff technology, space technology advances the capabilities that will be utilized for NASA’s future missions in science and exploration.

2. It enhances our economic competitiveness. As recognized by Congress in the America COMPETES Act, our nation’s economic competitiveness and high standard of living are based on decades of investment in innovation, research, and technology. Through space technology, NASA will stimulate the economy and build America’s global economic competitiveness through the creation of new products and services, new businesses and industries, and highquality, sustainable jobs across NASA Centers, universities, and both small and large businesses.

3. Investments in space technology have consistently improved quality of life on Earth. Some of the benefits provided by America’s investments in aerospace technology include knowledge provided by weather and navigational spacecraft, efficiency improvements in both ground and air transportation, biomedical applications including bloodflow monitoring devices, pacemakers, and Lasik eye surgery, as well as the protective armor that keeps our military, firefighters, and police safe. By investing in Space Technology, NASA will continue to improve our lives.

Additionally, the funding of Space Technology is essential to inspire future generations to consider science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career paths. Given that our nation faces times of fiscal austerity, we urge you to support at least $535 million for NASA’s Space Technology program in FY 2012. These investments in human exploration, telerobotics, inspace propulsion, deepspace communication and navigation, space power generation and storage, nextgeneration life support, and radiation protection are all documented requirements for NASA to extend human presence beyond lowEarth orbit. The programs now under the Office of the Chief Technologist were authorized at a combined total of approximately $800 million in the NASA Authorization Act of 2010. The National Research Council, in its preliminary report on NASA technology issued on August 31, 2011, stated, “NASA’s technology base is largely depleted [and] success in executing future NASA space missions will depend on advanced technology developments that should already be underway.” Furthermore, the NASA report notes, “Currently available technology is insufficient to accomplish many intended space missions.” In FY 2011, Space Technology consists of ongoing missionfocused technology development activities carried into the program from FY 2010 and a limited number of competitive awards made to academia, industry, and the NASA Centers. In many cases, these same technology activities will mature capabilities that are also required for NASA’s future science missions as identified in National Research Council Decadal Surveys.

If funded at the current House Appropriations Subcommittee level of $375M in FY 2012, Space Technology will not fulfill its potential. Under this funding constraint, ongoing activities required for NASA’s future deep space missions like satellite servicing, composite cryotanks, humanrobotic systems, highbandwidth communication, aerodecelerators, radiation protection, inspace propulsion, and power generation and storage are at risk of being drastically rescoped or cancelled. In addition, ongoing programs like the Center Innovation Fund, Centennial Challenges, and Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research, as well as planned space flight technology demonstration missions in cryogenic propellant storage and transfer and inspace propulsion, are at risk.

The Space Technology program is a critical investment in NASA’s future, our nation’s future in space, and America’s technology leadership position in the world. We urge you to support NASA’s Space Technology program at a level of at least $535 million in FY 2012.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Aerojet
Andrews Space
Arizona State University
Bigelow Aerospace
Blue Origin
Brown University
California Institute of Technology
Carnegie Mellon University
Commercial Spaceflight Federation
DCI Services & Consulting
Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation
Environmental Tectonics Corporation’s NASTAR Center
Esther Dyson
Excalibur Almaz
Georgia Institute of Technology
Harvard University
Innovative Health Applications
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Masten Space Systems
MDA Corporation
Mojave Air and Space Port
New Mexico State University
Oklahoma Space Authority
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbitec
Paragon Space Development Corporation
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Raytheon
Richard Garriott
RS&H
Sierra Nevada Space Systems
Southwest Research Institute
Space Florida
SpaceX
The Ohio State University
The Spaceship Company
Triumph Aerospace Systems Newport News
University of Cincinnati
University of Houston
University of Illinois
University of New Hampshire
University of Southern California
Virgin Galactic
Xcor
X PRIZE Foundation

cc:
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye
Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Thad Cochran