Abstract
In addition to applying to the space sector Ronald Reagan’s conviction that the free market was the preferred path to future progress, there were three other influences supporting Reagan administration initiatives toward space commercialization during the 1983–1984 period. One was the emergence, just as the Reagan administration arrived in Washington, of a variety of private sector actors interested in space commercialization. Second, there was also a sudden flowering of new, entrepreneurial commercial space ventures. A third influential factor leading to the increased emphasis on commercialization was high enthusiasm regarding the potential economic payoffs from various commercial space activities. While the revenue from privatizing remote sensing and commercializing expendable launch vehicles was expected to be relatively modest, payoffs from new commercial activities carried out in Earth orbit were forecast to be in the multiple billions of dollars. These influences combined as the foundation for crafting a Reagan administration policy toward encouraging and facilitating commercial activities in orbit.
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Notes
- 1.
Michael A. G. Michaud, Reaching for the High Frontier: The American Pro-Space Movement, 1972–1984 (New York: Praeger, 1986), 247.
- 2.
Joan Lisa Bromberg, NASA and the Space Industry (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999), 120.
- 3.
Philip Klutznick, “Outer Space Profits,” NYT, September 10, 1983, http://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/10/opinion/outer-space-profits.html. Also, Craig Covault, “Unique Products, New Technologies Spawn Space Business,” AWST, June 25, 1984, 40–41.
- 4.
William H. Gregory, “Space as a Business,” AWST, June 25, 1984, 11.
- 5.
The Walker quote comes from Neil Dahlstrom, ed., “Commercial Space Policy in the 1980s: Proceedings of a Roundtable Discussion,” May 2000, 9. National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, as amended, https://history.nasa.gov/spaceact-legishistory.pdf.
- 6.
See John M. Logsdon, “Selling the Space Shuttle: Early Developments,” in Roger Launius and Howard McCurdy, eds., Seeds of Discovery (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) for an account of early steps in promoting the space shuttle as a platform for commercial activities, and Howard E. McCurdy, The Space Station Decision: Incremental Politics and Technological Choice (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990) for an account of attempts to demonstrate the commercial potentials of a space station.
- 7.
NASA, “Panel to Study Commercial Enterprise in Space,” NASA News Release 83-12, February 7, 1983. Bromberg, NASA and the Space Industry, 121–122.
- 8.
Memorandum from Craig Fuller to Fred Ryan, “Schedule Proposal,” July 20, 1983, Box 7, Outer Space Files, RRL.
- 9.
Letter from Craig Fuller to John Yardley, McDonnell Douglas Astronautics, July 26, 1983, Files of Valerie Neal.
- 10.
Memorandum from Craig Fuller to various White House and Executive Office staff, “Space Commercialization,” August 2, 1983, with attached listing of private sector activities and concerns. Folder 12772, NHRC.
- 11.
Craig Fuller, “Briefing Paper for the President – Meeting on Space Commercialization,” August 2, 1983, Box 12, Subject Files, Papers of Craig Fuller, RRL.
- 12.
Douglas Brinkley, ed., The Reagan Diaries (New York: Harper Collins, 2007), 172. Craig Covault, “Reagan Briefed on Space Station,” AWST, August 8, 1983, 16.
- 13.
Memorandum from Bud Evans to Craig Fuller, August 15, 1983, Folder 12772, NHRC.
- 14.
Ronald Reagan: “Remarks at the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration,” October 19, 1983. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, APP, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=40662.
- 15.
Commercial Space Group, “Private Enterprise in Space – An Industry View,” draft dated December 13, 1983, Box 11, Subject Files, Papers of Craig Fuller, RRL.
- 16.
Memorandum from Craig Fuller to Ed Meese and Robert McFarlane, “Report and Proposal from the Commercial Space Group,” December 15, 1983, Box 8, Outer Space Files, RRL. Memorandum from Robert McFarlane to Craig Fuller, “Report and Proposals from the Commercial Space Group,” December 23, 1983, Folder 12772, NHRC. Ronald Reagan: “Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union,” January 25, 1984. Online by Peters and Woolley, APP, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=40205.
- 17.
Memorandum from Craig Fuller to the Cabinet Council on Commerce and Trade, “Commercial Space Initiatives,” April 10, 1984, Box 2, Outer Space Files, RRL.
- 18.
Memorandum from William Niskanen to Craig Fuller, “Commercial Space Initiatives,” April 16, 1984; memorandum from Malcolm Baldridge to Craig Fuller, “Commercial Space Initiatives,” April 16, 1984; memorandum from David Chew to Craig Fuller, “Commercial Space Initiatives,” April 16, 1984, Box 2, Outer Space Files, RRL.
- 19.
Memorandum from Lehman Li to Roger Porter, “Space Commercialization,” May 30, 1984, Box 9, Outer Space Files, RRL.
- 20.
Unsigned but likely Bud Evans, “Overview Thoughts for Stockman Meeting,” June 5, 1984, Box 9, Outer Space Files, RRL.
- 21.
Memorandum from Craig Fuller to the President, “Commercial Use of Space,” July 17, 1984, Box 3, Outer Space Files, RRL.
- 22.
Carole Shifrin, “Reagan Backs Space Commerce,” AWST, July 30, 1983, 17. Ronald Reagan: “Remarks at a White House Ceremony Marking the 15th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing,” July 20, 1984. Online by Peters and Woolley, APP, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=40180.
- 23.
Office of the Press Secretary, the White House, “National Policy on the Commercial Use of Space – Fact Sheet,” July 20, 1984.
- 24.
Stephen Engelberg, “Reagan Set to Remove Tax Obstacles to Commercial Use of Space,” NYT, July 21, 1984, 12.
- 25.
Memorandum from Richard Shay to members of the Cabinet Council Working Group on Space Commercialization, October 23, 1984, CFOA 1318, Papers of Michael Driggs, RRL.
- 26.
Memorandum from Craig Fuller to Michael Driggs, “CCCT Working Group on Space Commercialization,” December 14, 1984, Folder 12772, NHRC. Memorandum from Michael Driggs to Economic Policy Council Members, “Commercial Space Working Group,” undated but December 1985, with attached memorandum from Robert Brumley to Economic Policy Council, “Interim Report,” undated but December 20, 1985, CFA 19828, Papers of Michael Driggs, RRL.
- 27.
Memorandum from administrator to officials-in-charge of Headquarters Offices and Field Installations, “NASA Commercial Use of Space Policy,” with attached “NASA Commercial Space Policy,” October 29, 1984, NHRC. The quotes are from pp. v–vi. Craig Covault, “NASA Formulates Policy to Spur Private Investment,” AWST, November 26, 1984, 18.
- 28.
Bromberg, NASA and the Space Industry, 122–124. Beggs’s remark is from Neil Dahlstrom, ed., “Commercial Space Policy in the 1980s: Proceedings of a Roundtable Discussion,” May 2000, 17.
- 29.
William Gregory, “Policy for Commercialization,” AWST, December 3, 1984, 13. John M. Logsdon, “Space Commercialization: How Soon the Payoffs?” Futures, February 1984, 71–78.
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Logsdon, J.M. (2019). Commercializing Earth Orbit. In: Ronald Reagan and the Space Frontier. Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98962-4_13
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