Dec 31 2002
From The Space Library
The Space Shuttle Competitive Source Task Force released its final report on the potential for private-sector operation of the Shuttle program. NASA had commissioned the Task Force to analyze the roles of NASA and its contractors with regard to Space Shuttle operations. More specifically, the Task Force had assessed various scenarios in which NASA would focus primarily on spaceflight research and development, outsourcing to the private sector the operation of the planned replacements of the Shuttles for routine transit to low Earth orbit. The Task Force had concluded that, although NASA faced numerous challenges to competitive sourcing for the Shuttle program, it should pursue some form of this option. Moreover, the panel suggested that the most likely scenario for successful private-sector involvement in the Shuttle program would not involve private operation of the program, but rather a transfer of program assets to private entities at highly deflated prices. Another option would entail the restructuring of existing contracts, perhaps taking steps to expand the pool of program suppliers beyond the existing duopoly of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. In addition, as a first step to privatization, NASA could establish a space authority to operate the Shuttle, as well as future human transportation vehicles. (Space Shuttle Competitive Sourcing Task Force, “Alternative Trajectories: Options for Competitive Sourcing of the Space Shuttle Program” (Final Report, Science and Technology Policy Institute, Rand Corporation, Arlington, VA, December 2002), http://www.rand.org/scitech/stpi/NASA/index.html (accessed 30 December 2009).
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