Commercial Space Launch Act Of 2004

In the past 50 years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sent out many planned space exploration missions which have lead to numerous advantages in society and culture. NASA’s technologies benefit American lives with the innumerable important breakthroughs by creating new markets that have spurred the economy and changed countless lives in many ways. NASA is a federal agency and receives its fundings from the annual federal budget passed by the United States Congress. However, there are conflicting opinions that consider whether or not funding for NASA is a waste of government spending.

The space race was a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union that occurred during the Cold War. They competed for dominance in space technology and spaceflight, which spurred many significant inventions and events. Some of these inventions and events include the first-ever landing on the moon, the first artificial satellite to be launched into the Earth’s orbit, the establishment of NASA, the invention of the microprocessor computer, the invention of satellite communication technology, and other direct and indirect impacts. Each of the different events and inventions that spawned from the space race have had significant impacts on the United States economy.

Where the World Wars and commercialization allowed aviation to develop from the Wrights’ simple aircraft, to large commercial plane, to extremely complex military aircraft. Today, reorganized to form NASA, its main goal is the advancement of space technology and the human exploration of space. Using the private companies to commercialize low-orbit travel and the development of better rocketry, NASA can focus on deep exploration. NASA believes that commercialization is not only a method to be cost effective, but help raise the number of crew aboard the ISS, provide new economic frontiers in space travel, and brings the frontier to civilians. In the near future, with the aid of space commercialization and NASA research, astronauts and spacecraft will become independent of Earth. Meaning, that astronauts and spacecraft will no longer need to reenter Earth’s orbit for resupplies, but are able to self-sustain their systems. This will enable humanity to push further into the depths of space, beyond the asteroid belt or even

Neil Armstrong 's 1969 lunar landing was one of humanity 's greatest accomplishments. Since then, we have found that an infinite supply of knowledge and resources await us just outside our atmosphere. Today, however, critics are beginning to argue more and more that the cost of space exploration is too high, and therefore new technological developments should be left to the private sector. Whether funded privately or by the government, funding of space exploration is imperative because NASA is essentially the only agency with the technological capabilities to support aircraft manufacturing, air safety and air transportation. Space exploration has also resulted in remarkable innovations that has played a key role in aeronautics research, preventative medicine, and allows scientists to study asteroids, along with other space debris and their impacts on Earth.

The Cold War was an all-encompassing face of the 20th century, world politics, and a major idea during this time was domination of the skies. The United States competed against The Soviet Union in a war unlike any other, they didn’t fight with guns, bombs, or war machines but with science and the battlefield was space. The prioritization of the space race on the national agenda was characterized by an urgency, which underscored the commitment to the U.S. to defeat the Soviet Union by all means necessary. This came at the cost of billions of dollars, resources, lives, and political forces.

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the satellite Sputnik, and the space race was on. The Soviet’s triumph jarred the American people and sparked a vigorous response in the federal government to make sure the United States did not fall behind its communist rival.

The concept of space exploration was first introduced to the American public in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy famously stood before congress and vowed that America would put a man on the moon “within the decade.” With hopes of defeating the Soviet Union in the “Space Race” and gaining a leg-up in the Cold War, NASA funding reached its all-time high in 1965-1966 when about four percent of the federal budget was devoted to exploring space. Since then however, funding dedicated to exploring space has nose-dived to about one-half of a percent of the federal budget (Tyson), with plans to cut that figure by an additional $260 million in 2017 (cite NASA funding cuts). Experts in the space-sciences field argue that increased funding in space exploration would re-ignite the American economy and return America to the scientific prominence it was once known for, while, on the other end of the spectrum, naysayers suggest that exploring space is an economic sink-hole that the United States can no longer afford to deposit to given its own earth-bound troubles.

Through innovation in technology, the space exploration programs of the United States have achieved several benefits for today’s society. Many studies have shown that space programs have encouraged innovation of various

“Sputnik marked the beginning of the "space race," a period of nearly twenty years during which fierce US and Soviet competition spurred both countries to make rapid progress in aeronautic engineering,” (Lee). This period of time birthed a new program from the American government, called the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA. NASA has been building rockets, training astronauts, and studying space for the benefit of science, the government, and the people of America since 1958. Unfortunately, many people don't realize how important NASA is, and there have been efforts made to stop the government from funding NASA. This program is essential for increasing knowledge of outer space, protecting planet Earth, and creating

The principles of the National Space Policy of the United States of America 2010 include sustainability, stability and free access to, and use of, space vital to its national interests. For instance, a robust and competitive commercial space sector, which encourages and facilitates the growth of a U.S. commercial space sector that supports U.S. needs. In addition, the U.S. believes that all nations have the right to explore and use space for peaceful purposes, and for the benefit of humanity, in accordance with international law. The U.S. considers the space systems of all nations to have rights of passage through, and conduct of operations in, space without interference (Government U. S., 2010). Moreover, the stated space goals include, energizing competitive domestic industries, expand international cooperation, strengthen

NASA announced the end of the shuttle program in 2011, and in 2012 it launched the final Space Shuttle mission. Commercial space flight took off soon after that as private companies started up and began to fill the void left by the program. This is a rather new industry focused mainly on transporting cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS) but also on sending astronauts and civilian travelers to space and putting satellites and other objects into orbit. Currently there are 39 companies in this industry in the United States and these companies are not publicly traded. Each of these companies are at different stages of development as they strive to overcome the obstacles that in the way of commercial spaceflight. In recent years there has been many advancement in the industry as each company focuses on different areas in this industry and applies different

The world today revolves around technology and is in an ever upward spiraling path of new advancements. This path is now at what some people call the “final frontier”, or the space age. The discoveries being made on this front are overwhelming in comparison to the technology that the world had only twenty years ago. Space exploration was once left up to the governments, as they battled to be the first country in space, but with national debts raising and the cuts made in response, space exploration is beginning to become new grounds for private business owners. Private companies are already beginning to send off rockets at a fraction of the cost that government does, but if more money was put into the government space program, then they

Space has been considered to be the common heritage of all humanity, from the time of the first launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957. This common heritage This is reflected in the landmark the 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (‘Outer Space Treaty’ or ‘OST’), which affirms that all have a right to access space for peaceful and scientific purposes, and prohibits the sovereign appropriation of outer space. In 2015 the US Congress passed the Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act (‘US Space Act’) , which provides for the ‘commercial exploration for and commercial recovery of space resources by United States citizens’. Some commentators

it is inevitable that the private industry will introduce a space economy in the commercial world of current times. This is most effective and lucrative at low Earth orbit. However, the lower you orbit, the less space there is as the surface area of an orbital path drops off as a squared function with the altitude. The obvious problem is this- How do we control the risk factors with “crowded skies,” while making sure that the market develops in a healthy, non-monopolistic way? NASA’s Commercial Orbit Transportation Services (COTS) program, managed by the Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office (C3PO) is attempting to start the

Space exploration refers to the exploration and discovery of outer space’s celestial structures by means of the ever-growing space technology, which is continuously evolving. Space physical exploration is conducted by using unmanned robotic probes. Human spaceflight is also used for space exploration. The history of space exploration dates back to the 20th century when the world’ most powerful states such as Russia and the United states scrambled for superiority. Space exploration therefore became a sense of pride and extreme manpower leading to development of space vehicles, which attempted to reach space. The space exploration programs were conducted by government space agencies mainly of the United States and Soviet Union due to the sensitivity and huge finances involved. With time, private organizations began to purchase and offer space launches, laying ground for private space flight. Satellite radio, communications satellites, astronaut transport, satellite television and sub-orbital space tourism comprise the Earth orbit’s private space lift.