Innovation Online

By Jeff Krukin

In 1902, Wilbur Wright wrote to a friend explaining his and Orville’s plans for the following year, as seen in the Dec. 30, 2002 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology. “We are thinking about a machine next year with 500 sq. ft. surface, about 40 ft. x 6 ft. 6 inches [sic]. This will give us opportunity to work out problems connected with the management of large machines both in the air and on the ground, such as starting, &c, &c [sic]. If all goes well the next step will be to apply a motor.” All went well, and North Carolina was the launch pad for American aviation.

Between 1959 and 1975, many Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz astronauts trained at Morehead Planetarium. Once again, North Carolina was a significant contributor to America’s aerospace endeavors. Whether for entrepreneurs or government programs, the state has demonstrated its value.

Today, unlike previous decades where space activity was largely government-funded, the nation is poised to embrace Earth-orbit and the moon as full-fledged economic development zones. How is North Carolina positioned to contribute to and benefit from the emerging commercial aero/space sector, an economic sector destined to become a significant national economic engine much as transportation and information technology are today? It doesn’t look good. Several years ago, Morehead Planetarium was almost shut down. According to the North Carolina Space Initiative, in fiscal year 2002 the state ranked 21st among all the states for NASA education funding, receiving $36.5M when the average was $251M per state. And numerous states either have or are considering spaceports and are members of the Aerospace States Association, yet North Carolina doesn’t even have a delegation.

Meanwhile, the nation isn’t sitting still. Significant space events occurred during the first half of 2004, and they demonstrate a fundamental shift in America’s space activities. It began on January 14th, when President Bush announced “… a new plan to explore space and extend a human presence across our solar system. We will begin the effort quickly, using existing programs and personnel. We will give NASA a new focus and a new vision for future exploration. We will build new ships to carry man forward into the universe, to gain a new foothold on the Moon, and to prepare for new journeys to worlds beyond our own.”

Several key points mark a radical departure from the status quo, and were mostly missed by the media. Unlike Apollo, this is not a race to be won at any cost. Instead, NASA is directed to advance incrementally, and most of the funding during the next five years will come from a re-direction of NASA’s existing budget. The space shuttle and space station will no longer be the centerpieces of America’s manned space program. In other words, if NASA wants to travel great distances it will have to give up the front yard (low Earth orbit). And unlike Apollo, the private sector is expected to do much of the heavy lifting (pun intended).

In March, the House of Representatives passed the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act, “To promote the development of the emerging commercial human space flight industry, to extend the liability indemnification regime for the commercial space transportation industry, to authorize appropriations for the Office of the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, and for other purposes.” This provided much needed support for the entrepreneurial space launch industry, which has to thrive if market forces are to lower launch costs, something NASA has never accomplished despite repeated efforts.

The most valuable accomplishment of this legislation was to settle a long-running feud within the Federal Aviation Administration; which office would regulate the fledgling sub-orbital launch companies. The FAA’s Air Traffic Organization wanted to apply the standards used for commercial aviation, which would have been untenable for a start-up business. Fortunately, the House legislation mandated that the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA-AST) be in charge.

With the regulatory dust settled, commercial space momentum continued building in April. On the 1st of the month, the FAA-AST issued the world’s first license for a manned sub-orbital rocket flight to Scaled Composites, the company that would successfully launch SpaceShipOne in a few months. On the 23rd, XCOR Aerospace announced it had received a reusable launch vehicle mission license from the FAA-AST for conducting tests prior to suborbital passenger travel. Two companies were preparing to do what only a handful of governments had done; launch people into space, and at a fraction of the cost of government programs.

Another indication of the changing nature of space activity came in May, with the following statement by John Marburger (Science Advisor to the President and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy) as reported in Space News: “The President has accepted the notion that eventually humans will incorporate accessible space into their economic zone.” This is far more than just launching astronauts into orbit for brief stays. This is orbiting hotels, permanent lunar settlements, and mining on near-Earth asteroids. Space will encompass the full dimension of human economic activity.

Finally, The Report of the President’s Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy was released in June, and it reinforced the President’s vision by embracing the need for entrepreneurs and the research and education communities to ensure success. Also this month, Scaled Composites issued a press release celebrating the flight of SpaceShipOne. “The world witnessed the dawn of a new space age today, as investor and philanthropist Paul G. Allen and Scaled Composites launched the first private manned vehicle beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. The successful launch demonstrated that the final frontier is now open to private enterprise.”

What had cost almost $1B in the 1960’s with NASA’s Mercury sub-orbital program cost an individual $20M today. Such is the power of advancing technology and increasing personal wealth. While this is just a first step, it begs two huge questions: Is it necessary for the government to build multi-billion dollar vehicles when it can buy launch services from companies who can build multi-million dollar vehicles? And Is it necessary for all space flights to begin and end at government launch facilities when a commercial airport was used for the launch and landing of a private space flight?

Clearly, this is not your father’s space program. In fact, it isn’t just a “program” anymore; it’s everything that touches our lives. From information technology to biotechnology to nanotechnology, this new vision will grow every high-tech sector of the economy, which is crucial to high-wage job creation and competing in a global market. Space is nothing less than the ultimate economic growth engine, and nothing more than another place for people to live, work, study, and play.

What does this mean for North Carolina and the Triangle? This fundamental shift in the way we pursue the exploration of space creates an incredible opportunity for economic growth throughout the state. With three major universities and the Research Triangle Park, the Triangle is ideally suited to lead the state from Kitty Hawk to Earth orbit and beyond. The North Carolina Space Initiative (NCSI), with its goal of “making North Carolina a national leader in space research, education and commerce,” is poised to be out front in this new era of space utilization. Morehead Planetarium could once again become a training facility.

Perhaps NC State, UNC, and Duke University will operate the world’s first orbiting campus. RTI International, which planned and conducted the NASA-Industry Nanotechnology Workshop in January, could apply its R&D skills in one or more of the seventeen technology focus areas identified by the President’s Commission. One of these areas, closed-loop life support and habitability, is ideal for NC State’s NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training in Gravitational Biology (NSCORT) in Plant Gravitational Biology and Genomics. IBM, Cisco, EMC, and other RTP information technology companies would benefit from a growing commercial space industry. A North Carolina commercial spaceport, combined with air, rail, highway, and sea transportation, could become the region’s dominant integrated transportation hub.

Finally, let’s not forget other elements of society. As stated in the Report of the President’s Commission “it’s time to connect chambers of commerce, labor unions, school boards, and other civic organizations to take advantage of the educational and commercial benefits of space exploration.” As NC State is an affiliate of the International Space University, why not begin by holding an ISU summer session or symposium here and involve these organizations?

Jeff Krukin is an international speaker, writer, and analyst concerned with The Human-Space ConnectionTM and commercial space development. Please see www.jeffkrukin.com for more information.