Friday, June 21, 2013

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell: The Case for Commercial Rockets

Why commercial spaceflight, as opposed to government-run programs?

A: After I finished my master's degree, I moved to a company called Aerospace Corporation, a big think tank for the U.S. Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office. I saw what government programs were and how they were executed. In some cases, they were executed beautifully, but in others, there was tremendous waste.

I then moved to a smaller company, expecting it to be different. After a few short years there, Elon [Musk] recruited me to SpaceX. I was at a point in my career where I felt like the business of space needed to be fixed, and if it wasn't, I didn't want any part of this industry. It was slow and stodgy. I told myself when I started at SpaceX that this would be my last job in this industry. If we couldn't make it work, I was out.

I do want to make something clear: SpaceX does have a lot of government business, but we execute in a commercial fashion. When SpaceX developed the Falcon 9 launcher, we spent about $400 million. NASA did a cost study that showed if the government had built that system, it would have cost $4 billion. The space industry is rife with disconcerting facts for our taxpayers.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/news/spacex-president-gwynne-shotwell-the-case-for-commercial-rockets-15608331?src=rss

kyle orton 2012 ncaa bracket john carlson greg smith catamount mike dantoni bulls heat

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.