The Russian Academy of Science has crafted a 30-year plan to explore space, including manned expeditions. That's according to Thomas Stafford, the chairman of the NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee, who says he's seen the plan. The so-called Joint Human Exploration Policy is meant to involve multiple nations and "has the management structure of the International Space Station," Stafford says. The plan treats the moon as a seventh continent and proposes to use facilities there as a springboard to farther destinations.
Stafford, a former pilot and astronaut, says Russia has begun to informally shop the idea around in world capitals. He says the Europeans have been receptive to the plan, whereas the Chinese are more interested in going it alone. Stafford's takeaway on the future of human spaceflight: "Looks the like Russians are ahead of the U.S." He offered no word on the White House's or NASA's reaction to the plan.
(2) The Pentagon will consider private space companies to launch its satellites.
Watch out, big aerospace. Private space could try to take a bite out of the security space launch market now dominated by the Boeing-Lockheed partnership United Launch Alliance. "I don't want to sound like we are bashing the United Launch Alliance; they are great partners with a wonderful track record," says Gen. William Shelton, head of Air Force Space Command. "But we pay a lot for it. We believe an increase in competition here is a good thing. We are going to take a hard look at new entrants." He says private space companies have "a new way of looking at things," but could have a hard time adapting to the Air Force's rigid certification processes.
(3) The most advanced military hardware will debut in the Pacific.
From F-22 Raptor fighters to unmanned surveillance aircraft to Littoral Combat ships, the Pentagon's best toys will go to commanders in the Pacific first. Ashton Carter, the Pentagon's acquisitions chief, says the United States is shifting from fighting wars against low-tech insurgents to prepare for enemies that have more advanced radar and missiles that can keep aircraft and ships at a distance. The Air Force proved itself useful in Iraq and Afghanistan by offering ubiquitious surveillance, something that will be much more difficult "where the air threat is not essentially negligible," Carter says.
(4) America may not dominate satellite launches to orbit, but American entrepreneurs dominate the suborbital ambitions.
The bad news: The United States has lost its space launch industry to deliver satellites to space. "The orbital space industry has gone offshore," says Pamela Melroy, a retired air force colonel and current director of field operations for the FAA's office of Commercial Space Transportation. Government funding of private space companies to deliver cargo to the International Space Station has yet to close this gap. "Things are really starting to pick up, mostly because of government support of private space," she says. "It may be a subsidy but they (the companies) do want to make money doing it."
However, American companies like Virgin Galactic are leaping ahead of the world when it comes to lower altitudes. "Right now the only ones doing substantial work in suborbital [launches] are in the United States." Melroy says. These flights are not government-sponsored and are aimed at space tourism. However, Melroy says, the research and education opportunities are much larger?for example, flights that validate spacecraft hardware with 5-minute hops into space.
(5) Not everyone loves the idea of refueling satellites in space.
It sounds like such a good idea: When satellites run out of fuel, send up a robot to top them off instead of launching a new one. NASA and DARPA have active programs researching this concept. But Gen. Shelton, as head of Air Force Space Command, says he doesn't see the need. By the time a satellite runs out of propellant, the hardware is about 22 years old. After that much time, he argues, the solar arrays have degraded and the computers are relics. "Now we want to go up and refuel it?" he asks. "When you peel back a few layers of this onion, it makes less sense to me."
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