Principles for an Inspirational, Aspirational, Competitive and
Affordable American Space Program

Affordable access to space is vital to America’s economy, security, and political freedom. Unfortunately, our national space agenda is hampered by bureaucracy and mired in parochial politics. While the space industry used to be a source of American exceptionalism, today almost all commercial satellites are launched on foreign rockets and starting next year, so will our astronauts.

As believers in the power of the free-market, we believe that government can and should create a framework for American industry and individuals to pursue their ideals and dreams, and space should be no exception. By opening space up to the American people and their enterprises, NASA can ignite an economic, technological, and innovation renaissance, and the United States will regain its rightful place as the world leader in this burgeoning industry. Doing so, however, will require abandoning the failed approaches of the Cold War.

Specifically, Congress must:

• Assure our nation’s space program is a source of innovation and
  international competitiveness.
• Create an environment for robust economic competition and technological innovation in the development of redundant and resilient space assets and access.
• Accelerate efforts to stimulate new American industrial competitive crew
  transportation systems to low Earth orbit.
• Open up the U.S. segment of the International Space Station to the fullest possible economic utilization by the U.S. private sector.
• Maximize the use of free and open competition and utilize fixed-price, pay-for-performance contracts to reward private investment and innovation in human exploration and spaceflight projects.