May 16 1983
From The Space Library
President Reagan issued a directive for the government to rent launch pads and sell rocket parts and plans to private firms as "a domestic backup for the shuttle at essentially no cost to the U.S. government. ...the private sector would assume all costs of [expendable launch vehicle] production now borne by the U.S. government" U.S. government facilities and equipment that would otherwise be underutilized or no longer required would find a market.
The government began 10 years ago to phase out expendable rockets like Delta, Atlas, and Titan in favor of reusable Space Shuttles. Contracts with rocket firms were ending, and launch pads at the Cape were closing down.
Gilbert Rye of the National Security Council said that the costs of keeping the U.S. facilities open and operating would be borne by the private companies. The president's directive would allow the firms to buy parts and government-owned plans for the rockets at cost and to pay for the use of launch pads, equipment, and engineers. (Text, Pres Doc, May 16/83; W Post, May 17/83, A-1)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
