WASHINGTON — NASA Human Exploration and Operations Administrator William Gerstenmaier said Wednesday that the space agency would be open to the possibility of private companies docking their shuttles in a special port on the International Space Station.
Attorney Michael Gold, an aerospace executive at Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace, questioned how manned American spacecraft could venture to the space station anymore since the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011.
Gerstenmaier said a plan was already in place to bring the private sector into the picture. NASA will put out a “Request for Information,” he said, that could lead to private companies docking spacecraft at the orbiting space station.
NASA would benefit from ideas companies generated about how to use the space station port — and the firms could develop their own commercial interests, such as cargo transport.
“If we do have a presence in cislunar, or the moon, or Mars, it could open up all kinds of opportunities for the private sector,” Gold said. “Commercial cargo programs could bring cargo out to cis lunar, moon or Mars.”
There have been two recent private cargo shuttle failures, the most famous being one launched by SpaceX. But Gerstenmaier said that the private sector has shown the ability to bounce back.
“The private sector can recover from these failures rather quickly,” he said. “They understood why the failure occurred and what they needed to do to get back flying again.”
Gold suggested that the private sector would eventually emerge as the primary force in space operations.
“I can’t tell you whose going to be in charge of NASA eight to nine months from now,” he said. “But I can tell you who’s going to be in control of space systems that are out there.”
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