I wish more people could be here at the FAA Commercial Space Transportation conference in Crystal City.  The commercial space community is so vibrant and eager to step up to the challenges ahead.

DoD is looking to them to help usher in an era of operationally responsive space access.

FAA and NASA are working to safely build a suborbital and LEO industry, and, thus, enable NASA to focus on exploration.

I honestly think that anyone who says the United States is surrendering its leadership is either completely unaware of what’s really going on or simply reacting out of fear.  This is not just the work of a few ideologues, as I’ve heard some people suggest.

DOT and FAA are 100% behind this.  Every one of the DoD folks that presented today and that I talked to says this is the future.  NASA is giving the new Chief Technologist a portfolio with real funding authority that includes innovative partnerships with commercial space.

This is a broad-based shift from building centrally-planned programs to fostering a sustainable industry that is responsive to the operational needs of its customers.  Boeing already seems to be positioning itself to thrive in the new environment with their announcement of their own commercial capsule design being developed in partnership with Bigelow Aerospace.  I think this kind of partnership between the “New Space” companies with experienced system integrators is likely to be common.

Alan Stern said today that he thinks human space flight will be healthier under the new plan, but that NASA still needs to set clear exploration goals.  I agree, which is why I’m glad to hear that Administrator Bolden has a vision for building a pathway to Mars.

The details executing on all this are still to come and there’s a whole second day of this conference tomorrow, but I am genuinely excited for the future of the space program.  We need more ideas, more options, and more innovation.  It looks like we’re going to get it.