The event was held at the El Pomar Carriage Museum at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, honoring the critical role corporate sponsors play in the success of Space Foundation education, industry, policy and space awareness programs.

U.S. Space is pleased to support the Space Foundation and their mission to advance space-related endeavors to inspire enable and propel humanity.

The ability to breathe new life into an aging satellite using robot mechanics could potentially boost satellite industry efficiency and still reduce mission costs, and at least one aerospace firm is forging ahead with plans to do just that.

Now, all the company needs is customers.

“We’re ready to sell, we’re ready to build, we’re ready to deliver,” said Edward Horowitz, ViviSat’s chairman of the board. ViviSat is a joint venture of rocket manufacturer Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and aerospace firm U.S. Space.

ViviSat’s Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) is being designed to dock to satellites in orbit, and then use its own thrusters to provide propulsion and attitude control. Among other functions, the spacecraft will be able to adjust an older satellite’s orbit, rescue fully fueled satellites that may have launched into the wrong location, or move a satellite into a different orbit for a completely new purpose.

“Our target market is both commercial spacecraft as well as government spacecraft,” Horowitz, told SPACE.com at the 28th National Space Symposium in mid-April. “If you just look at the commercial market, there are 350 to 360 satellites in geostationary orbit. Every year, 25 or so reach the end of their fuel life. Of that 25, we figure 10 are good target customers for this.”

A repair droid for space

The MEV is being built by ATK, the company that manufactured the reusable solid rocket motors for NASA’s now-retired space shuttles. Prototypes of the MEV’s rendezvous and docking mechanisms are currently being tested at a special facility in Beltsville, Md. that simulates the microgravity environment of space. Horowitz declined to comment on the cost of the MEV program, but said that work on the spacecraft systems are continuing to evolve.

“We’ve really made a lot of progress,” said Tom Wilson, vice president and general manager of ATK’s space systems division. “The technology that we need exists off the shelf today, and most of it has been tested in orbit. For us, this reduces a huge amount of risk.”

The way that the MEV vehicle operates is also considered much less invasive than other similarly proposed projects, Horowitz said.

Since the MEV does not add fuel or remove any materials on the satellite itself, it is less intrusive. It also allows satellite operations to continue uninterrupted even with the MEV attached.

“Satellites were designed to not be tampered with, and this is a passive approach, which is appealing to operators,” Horowitz said. “This enhances profitability because it allows operators to keep operating, so they keep their margins. It’s no fuss, no muss and no mechanics.”

“The economic environment has created a crisis,” Horowitz said. “Change usually comes about in periods of crisis, and we have such a period now. This is a way of cost effectively maintaining perfectly good on-orbit assets. In this tight economic environment, logic says it would help. There’s an opportunity for people to start looking at new things and new ways of doing things.”

Satellite gas stations

And ViviSat is not the only company pursuing ways to extend the lives of satellites. Another example is Canada-based aerospace company MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA), which is designing a spacecraft that will effectively serve as an orbiting gas station and mechanic.

This so-called Space Infrastructure Servicing vehicle will be able to refill a satellite’s fuel tanks and perform minor repairs, as needed. The ambitious project has the potential to greatly improve how a commercial satellite company operates, but so far, MDA has struggled to lock in committed customers.

Satellite operator Intelsat initially agreed to pay $280 million over time for MDA’s SIS vehicle to refuel certain satellites in its fleet. The first of these refueling missions was targeted to occur in 2015, but in January, both companies announced they have scrapped the agreement.

But ViviSat is confident it can attract enough customers to make a viable business case, which includes up to five docks and undocks per MEV, Wilson said. With much of the technology already in place, the development of the spacecraft could also be a faster and less risky process.

In fact, if a satellite operator purchases the service today, the first MEV spacecraft could be launched as early as 2015, Wilson said. But the trick is to find that first customer.

“I call it the penguin theory,” Horowitz said, “You have all these people, all these potential customers, all these penguins standing on the ice, all creeping up to the edge. It’s not until the first penguin goes in that the rest follow. So, we have the penguin theory, which is that someone’s waiting for others to be first.”

by Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff Writer

Date: 15 May 2012 Time: 07:00 AM ET

The ability to breathe new life into an aging satellite using robot mechanics could potentially boost satellite industry efficiency and still reduce mission costs, and at least one aerospace firm is forging ahead with plans to do just that.

Now, all the company needs is customers.

“We’re ready to sell, we’re ready to build, we’re ready to deliver,” said Edward Horowitz, ViviSat’s chairman of the board. ViviSat is a joint venture of rocket manufacturer Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and aerospace firm U.S. Space.

ViviSat’s Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) is being designed to dock to satellites in orbit, and then use its own thrusters to provide propulsion and attitude control. Among other functions, the spacecraft will be able to adjust an older satellite’s orbit, rescue fully fueled satellites that may have launched into the wrong location, or move a satellite into a different orbit for a completely new purpose.

“Our target market is both commercial spacecraft as well as government spacecraft,” Horowitz, told SPACE.com at the 28th National Space Symposium in mid-April. “If you just look at the commercial market, there are 350 to 360 satellites in geostationary orbit. Every year, 25 or so reach the end of their fuel life. Of that 25, we figure 10 are good target customers for this.”

A repair droid for space
The MEV is being built by ATK, the company that manufactured the reusable solid rocket motors for NASA’s now-retired space shuttles. Prototypes of the MEV’s rendezvous and docking mechanisms are currently being tested at a special facility in Beltsville, Md. that simulates the microgravity environment of space. Horowitz declined to comment on the cost of the MEV program, but said that work on the spacecraft systems are continuing to evolve.

“We’ve really made a lot of progress,” said Tom Wilson, vice president and general manager of ATK’s space systems division. “The technology that we need exists off the shelf today, and most of it has been tested in orbit. For us, this reduces a huge amount of risk.”

The way that the MEV vehicle operates is also considered much less invasive than other similarly proposed projects, Horowitz said.

Since the MEV does not add fuel or remove any materials on the satellite itself, it is less intrusive. It also allows satellite operations to continue uninterrupted even with the MEV attached.

“Satellites were designed to not be tampered with, and this is a passive approach, which is appealing to operators,” Horowitz said. “This enhances profitability because it allows operators to keep operating, so they keep their margins. It’s no fuss, no muss and no mechanics.”

“The economic environment has created a crisis,” Horowitz said. “Change usually comes about in periods of crisis, and we have such a period now. This is a way of cost effectively maintaining perfectly good on-orbit assets. In this tight economic environment, logic says it would help. There’s an opportunity for people to start looking at new things and new ways of doing things.”

Satellite gas stations
And ViviSat is not the only company pursuing ways to extend the lives of satellites. Another example is Canada-based aerospace company MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA), which is designing a spacecraft that will effectively serve as an orbiting gas station and mechanic. [Video: How the Refueling Satellite Will Work]

This so-called Space Infrastructure Servicing vehicle will be able to refill a satellite’s fuel tanks and perform minor repairs, as needed. The ambitious project has the potential to greatly improve how a commercial satellite company operates, but so far, MDA has struggled to lock in committed customers.

Satellite operator Intelsat initially agreed to pay $280 million over time for MDA’s SIS vehicle to refuel certain satellites in its fleet. The first of these refueling missions was targeted to occur in 2015, but in January, both companies announced they have scrapped the agreement.

But ViviSat is confident it can attract enough customers to make a viable business case, which includes up to five docks and undocks per MEV, Wilson said. With much of the technology already in place, the development of the spacecraft could also be a faster and less risky process.

In fact, if a satellite operator purchases the service today, the first MEV spacecraft could be launched as early as 2015, Wilson said. But the trick is to find that first customer.

“I call it the penguin theory,” Horowitz said, “You have all these people, all these potential customers, all these penguins standing on the ice, all creeping up to the edge. It’s not until the first penguin goes in that the rest follow. So, we have the penguin theory, which is that someone’s waiting for others to be first.”

by Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff Writer

Date: 15 May 2012 Time: 07:00 AM ET

The ability to breathe new life into an aging satellite using robot mechanics could potentially boost satellite industry efficiency and still reduce mission costs, and at least one aerospace firm is forging ahead with plans to do just that.

Now, all the company needs is customers.

“We’re ready to sell, we’re ready to build, we’re ready to deliver,” said Edward Horowitz, ViviSat’s chairman of the board. ViviSat is a joint venture of rocket manufacturer Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and aerospace firm U.S. Space.

ViviSat’s Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) is being designed to dock to satellites in orbit, and then use its own thrusters to provide propulsion and attitude control. Among other functions, the spacecraft will be able to adjust an older satellite’s orbit, rescue fully fueled satellites that may have launched into the wrong location, or move a satellite into a different orbit for a completely new purpose.

“Our target market is both commercial spacecraft as well as government spacecraft,” Horowitz, told SPACE.com at the 28th National Space Symposium in mid-April. “If you just look at the commercial market, there are 350 to 360 satellites in geostationary orbit. Every year, 25 or so reach the end of their fuel life. Of that 25, we figure 10 are good target customers for this.”

A repair droid for space
The MEV is being built by ATK, the company that manufactured the reusable solid rocket motors for NASA’s now-retired space shuttles. Prototypes of the MEV’s rendezvous and docking mechanisms are currently being tested at a special facility in Beltsville, Md. that simulates the microgravity environment of space. Horowitz declined to comment on the cost of the MEV program, but said that work on the spacecraft systems are continuing to evolve.

“We’ve really made a lot of progress,” said Tom Wilson, vice president and general manager of ATK’s space systems division. “The technology that we need exists off the shelf today, and most of it has been tested in orbit. For us, this reduces a huge amount of risk.”

The way that the MEV vehicle operates is also considered much less invasive than other similarly proposed projects, Horowitz said.

Since the MEV does not add fuel or remove any materials on the satellite itself, it is less intrusive. It also allows satellite operations to continue uninterrupted even with the MEV attached.

“Satellites were designed to not be tampered with, and this is a passive approach, which is appealing to operators,” Horowitz said. “This enhances profitability because it allows operators to keep operating, so they keep their margins. It’s no fuss, no muss and no mechanics.”

“The economic environment has created a crisis,” Horowitz said. “Change usually comes about in periods of crisis, and we have such a period now. This is a way of cost effectively maintaining perfectly good on-orbit assets. In this tight economic environment, logic says it would help. There’s an opportunity for people to start looking at new things and new ways of doing things.”

Satellite gas stations
And ViviSat is not the only company pursuing ways to extend the lives of satellites. Another example is Canada-based aerospace company MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA), which is designing a spacecraft that will effectively serve as an orbiting gas station and mechanic. [Video: How the Refueling Satellite Will Work]

This so-called Space Infrastructure Servicing vehicle will be able to refill a satellite’s fuel tanks and perform minor repairs, as needed. The ambitious project has the potential to greatly improve how a commercial satellite company operates, but so far, MDA has struggled to lock in committed customers.

Satellite operator Intelsat initially agreed to pay $280 million over time for MDA’s SIS vehicle to refuel certain satellites in its fleet. The first of these refueling missions was targeted to occur in 2015, but in January, both companies announced they have scrapped the agreement.

But ViviSat is confident it can attract enough customers to make a viable business case, which includes up to five docks and undocks per MEV, Wilson said. With much of the technology already in place, the development of the spacecraft could also be a faster and less risky process.

In fact, if a satellite operator purchases the service today, the first MEV spacecraft could be launched as early as 2015, Wilson said. But the trick is to find that first customer.

“I call it the penguin theory,” Horowitz said, “You have all these people, all these potential customers, all these penguins standing on the ice, all creeping up to the edge. It’s not until the first penguin goes in that the rest follow. So, we have the penguin theory, which is that someone’s waiting for others to be first.”

http://www.space.com/15681-satellite-repair-robot-spacecraft-technology.html

The 3.5 minute video can be viewed here

ViviSat, a satellite life extension joint venture between U.S. Space and ATK, intends to provide geosynchronous satellite operators with in-orbit mission extension and protection services in order to add to the revenue-producing life of its customers’ satellites.

In a statement, ViviSat CEO Craig Weston said the design phase for the servicing vehicle is progressing on schedule and that the company is in negotiations with potential customers.

“The market conditions for ViviSat are strong, with productive and energetic activity on numerous fronts,” ViviSat Board Member and ATK Vice President and General Manager Tom Wilson added. “Both government and commercial organizations are engaged and ViviSat is participating in many business and research efforts. All of this activity demonstrates what we’ve been saying — there is great value in revitalizing space assets.”

By Jeffrey Hill
http://www.satellitetoday.com/st/headlines/38463.html?hq_e=el&hq_m=2399238&hq_l=21&hq_v=55bc4f07fc

Craig Weston is President and Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Space, LLC, a U.S.-owned provider of dedicated, commercial space solutions to serve the interests of the nation and its coalition partners and commercial enterprises worldwide. He also holds these same positions with ViviSat LLC, a joint venture dedicated to life extension of on-orbit satellites, and U.S. Space Mobile Communications LLC, a joint venture that provides end-to-end mobile satellite communications solutions. Previously, he was Vice President and Deputy Director of a business unit with SRA International, a $1.5 billion information technology and services company based in Fairfax, Virginia.

A retired Air Force Major General, he spent a large part of his career developing, launching and operating communications, infra-red warning and reconnaissance satellites. At various points in his career, General Weston was involved in the development and fielding of air launched munitions, airborne high energy laser weapons, airborne and ground warning and surveillance systems, command and control information systems, as well as foreign military sales and international security assistance.

His last active duty assignment was in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he brokered international collaboration to rebuild the Afghan defense, police and legal sectors, as well as to disarm militia forces and begin counter-narcotics operations.

General Weston earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Mechanics and a Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering.

He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and serves on the board of directors of the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

MSM
General Weston, U. S. Space LLC has branched out in a variety of different directions since it was formed two years ago ….satellite life extension, mobile communications, military satellite communication…Why have you selected these particular business lines? What’s the common denominator?

General Weston
U. S. Space was formed as a call to service — to serve the nation. We believed from the start that by combining the best attributes of commercial and military satellite communications business practices we could provide our government a financially and operationally advantageous solution to a critical need. Fortunately, we had some of the best minds from both the commercial and government sectors working on the concept and the service — people like Ed Horowitz, Mark Piegza and Mark Albrecht. We have since been joined by other terrific people — Dr. Dany Harel, Randy Brinkley, Bryan McGuirk, Prof. Ed Wright, to name a few.

Drawing on their insights, we have expanded into satellite life extension and mobile communications — two business areas in which we have found new and better ways of delivering high-value services. I’ll give you two common denominators — we will only stand up a new business if it provides an essential service and if we have found a way to provide that service that delivers value in a different manner. We’re in business to change the game.

MSM
An area of great interest for you and U.S. Space is that of In-Orbit Servicing. Other companies as well as government agencies are intrigued enough with this approach to extending satellite life that they, too, have joined in this market segment. Would you please explain exactly what In-Orbit Servicing is, and how U.S. Space plays its major role in this effort? Why is such so important?

General Weston
In-orbit servicing is actually several decades old but I see this as a mission area that can experience explosive growth. It is an expensive and complex undertaking to place a satellite in orbit, so once there, it would be great if we could extend its life rather than undergo the expense and complexity of replacing it. So, in-orbit servicing is the ability to extend the life of a satellite, either by supplementing its original propulsion capabilities or by replacing failed modules like solar areas, batteries or other hardware essential to continued operation of the satellite. Over the past several decades, NASA has been a leader for in-orbit servicing, with several missions with astronauts extra-vehicular activity to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. These were astounding successes that prove the utility of in-orbit servicing. The time is right to apply many of these proven technologies to the commercial marketplace. The challenge is to perform in-orbit servicing without humans turning wrenches to replace hardware, and to do so at other than Low Earth Orbits, e.g., geosynchronous orbits, where humans cannot easily perform EVAs. Therefore, the future of this industry is very dependent on robotics and remotely manipulated devices. This is the reason U.S. Space is teaming with ATK Space Systems, a world-class developer of robotics for satellite servicing, in our ViviSat in-orbit servicing joint venture.

MSM
You and ATK created quite a stir when you announced ViviSat earlier this year. Were you surprised by the big reaction?

General Weston
It’s not often that an entirely new market in the satellite industry opens up. ViviSat offers satellite operators, the U.S. Government, and its coalition government partners a service that had previously been imagined but not realized commercially — in-orbit mission extension and operations protection services. These services are flexible, scalable, capital-efficient and low-risk operations that can add years to the revenue producing life of a satellite. The potential long-term impact for the commercial operator, government user, manufacturer, insurance provider is substantial. So it’s not surprising that players from all segments of the industry have been, and are today, quite keen to learn about ViviSat.

MSM
That being said, how’s the ViviSat business doing?

General Weston
The last several months have been a period of substantial progress and achievement. We are now well along in the design phase. We also now have firm fixed price offerings that we have communicated to potential customers that are being well received by the market. Our discussions with satellite operators around the world have become productive and we are in serious negotiations with several of them. In addition, ViviSat is currently testing its rendezvous and proximity operations at a new ATK lab in Beltsville, Maryland.

MSM
Shortly after you introduced ViviSat in January, MDA announced a competitive offering. Have there been any developments in the competitive landscape since then?

General Weston
In a business this young and exciting, we should expect rapid evolution in the service offerings, new entrants, business arrangements and enhancements of various kinds.

MSM
Is ViviSat technologically different from the competition?

General Weston
Unlike our competitors’ service, we don’t interfere with anything the client satellite is doing. Our approach does not have any electrical connection or fuel exchange of any kind. Like a “jet pack” for satellites, ViviSat simply makes a physical connection through docking. In addition, ViviSat can repeatedly dock and un-dock, servicing multiple satellites. Our solution is simple, low risk and unique — and can provide years of extra mission life.

MSM
Also, please bring us up to date on your mobile communications business.

General Weston
We launched U. S. Space Mobile Communications in April 2011. This business provides the U. S. Government and commercial entities the most reliable, secure, flexible, stable and cost-effective mobile communications services available in the market. This is an operationally intensive business, so we have spent a lot of time ensuring we have top quality customer support capabilities, and have been reaching out to hundreds of potential customers. We have also been working with selected customers on end-to-end solutions that include our industry-leading durable, small and smart mobile satellite handsets, and a compact IP broadband terminal that is a generational leap forward in design and performance.

MSM
Do you have any customers yet at USSMC?

General Weston
We do. We are generating revenue and, more importantly, we have happy customers. We have had some exciting reports from users in the field, in places like Ulaanbaatar, Addis Ababa and the Himalayas who have told us that the phones and IP terminals have made critical differences for them.

MSM
How does USSMC address the government customer’s specialized service and security needs?

General Weston
U.S. Space Mobile Commun-ications is a U.S.-owned and operated Company. We offer U.S. military personnel with increased OPSEC for sensitive operations by shielding customer identity from our service provider. Our Network Operations center that provides the 24×7 Help Desk and Customer Care Services for USSMC is based in Maryland and is staffed by native-English speaking, cleared U.S. citizens.

MSM
One area of great interest for commercial and military firms is the hosted payloads segment. How do you see the role of hosted payloads gaining ground, and what importance will it play in our future satellite launch efforts?

General Weston
I see hosted payloads as an important ingredient in our nation’s future space architecture. Whether it is a commercial communications satellite with a secondary military payload or our U.S. Space business model of purpose-built satellites dedicated to hosting military payloads as the primary mission, the government gains a number of benefits from hosting, among them: 1) A less expensive means of getting to, and operating, in space, 2) diversity of assets on orbit, 3) diversity in the industrial base, and 4) relatively rapid delivery timelines. In the forthcoming belt tightening our national security agencies must endure, hosted payloads is an idea whose time has come!

MSM
Start-ups are rare in this industry. Did U. S. Space make a mistake in the timing of the company’s introduction in light of the way the budgetary environment has developed over the last two years?

General Weston
We think our timing was perfect. U.S. Space was created to provide rapidly delivered, high-quality services in a resource-constrained world. We bring to government customers private financing and proven commercial business practices that provide space services that are transparent and fit easily into the government’s existing operations infrastructure. The marketplace, Congress and the Administration all seem to be saying that this kind of cross-fertilization is precisely what these challenging times demand.

MSM
And are there other business initiatives we haven’t heard about yet?

General Weston
Yes. Our business model is flexible and can be applied quite broadly, so we are developing and nurturing a number of other initiatives in the government space arena. Stay tuned!

MSM
General Weston, during your many years within the satellite and space segment of the U.S. Air Force as a Major General developing, directing, launching and operating MILSATCOM spacecraft, there must have been many projects which remain with you as the most satisfying of your military career. Would you please tell our readers about those projects, and why you consider them to be so important?

General Weston
I had the good fortune to be a part of a number of ground-breaking programs and systems during my Air Force career, both in the space and other mission areas. The most satisfying MILSATCOM project to which I contributed was the MILSTAR program, and the launch of the first military EHF frequency satellite in 1994. As with many high-technology programs, MILSTAR underwent a difficult birthing process but it and its successors, like the Advanced EHF satellites, provide a unique capability. The ability to communicate without disruption at all levels of conflict and in all conditions is a priceless advantage to our battlefield commanders, and is only possible with EHF satellites.

MSM
The technical needs of firms such as yours are huge. In order for our nation to compete on the global stage, our students’ education must radically improve in the sciences, mathematics, the various technologies and engineering disciplines. Unfortunately for both the military and commercial segments, there is a decreasing pool of trained professionals from which to drive new projects and missions through new hires. How important is STEM training in your estimation? How can our industry drive home and support the need for today’s students to be immersed in the sciences, mathematics, various technologies, and engineering disciplines? Is U.S. Space involved in any such programs?

General Weston
Yes — it is critical to our competitiveness as a nation to improve quality of education, especially at elementary and secondary levels, and especially in the areas of math, science and technology. That’s why a number of us at U. S. Space are very involved in educational programs. As examples, I work with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, which has extensive programs to support educators at all levels in math, science, and technology; our Chairman, Mark Albrecht is involved with the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science, and he donated the proceeds of his recent book to that program; and our co-founder Ed Horowitz serves on both The Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University and the Board of Trustees of the New York Hall of Science.

While we have much work to do, it’s also important to note the United States has the finest universities and colleges in the world. The U. S. dominates everyone’s list of world’s best universities, including schools like MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Cal Tech, Chicago, Johns Hopkins, as well as our outstanding service academies. No other country in the world is close to us in the choice of top-tier higher education — that’s true in math, science and technology and across other areas of study.

http://www.milsatmagazine.com/cgi-bin/display_article.cgi?number=476197360

The U.S. Space study identified and examined alternative approaches to the existing military satellite acquisition model and recommended alterations that will enable faster, more cost-effective, and more efficient solutions to meet U.S. Government needs.

Major General, USAF (Ret.) Craig P. Weston, CEO of U.S. Space LLC, said, “The government must start doing business differently in order to provide our warfighters with all the satellite communications capabilities they need. The Department of Defense and many of us in the satellite community understand that our nation not only needs to acquire the right MILSATCOM services; we also need to acquire them in the right way. The U.S. Space study identifies better, innovative government practices that put taxpayer dollars to their best use.” The U.S. Space study researched alternative models with which to acquire MILSATCOM capabilities using variations of a commercial fee-for-service model and compared these commercial approaches with traditional U.S. Government procurements of the same or substantially similar satellites. Also included in the study was an analysis of acquisition law, regulation and policy to facilitate the use of these innovative procurement methods. The study recommends the use of innovative methods to acquire a portion of the dedicated MILSATCOM capabilities by leveraging the commercial capital markets through a service provider to finance the needed capabilities.

General Weston continued, “Our study demonstrates there is a better way for the government to procure a substantial portion of their MILSATCOM capabilities. All we need now is for the government to select the best of several models and for industry to step up. U.S. Space stands ready.”

# # #

ABOUT U.S. SPACE
U.S. Space LLC is a U.S.-owned provider of dedicated, commercial space solutions. The company was established in January 2009 as a U.S.-owned provider of satellite solutions with a unique model combining the best commercial and government practices. The company, which is run by a small group of highly respected former military and corporate leaders, now offers a variety of dedicated space solutions to serve the nationʼs interests. More information on the company is available at www.usspacellc.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Hilary Condit
U.S. Space LLC
646.278.0371
hilary.condit@usspacellc.com

The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies (www.potomacinstitute.org) is pleased to announce that The Honorable Donald M. Kerr, PhD, has joined the Institute as a Senior Fellow and Member of the Board of Regents. Dr. Kerr is a distinguished scientist who has held several prominent positions in government service and private industry. He has served as Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Director of the National Reconnaissance Office, Deputy Director for Science and Technology at the Central Intelligence Agency, and Assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in charge of the Laboratory Division. He has been honored with the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal and the CIA Distinguished Intelligence Medal. Dr. Kerr is a Research Professor in George Mason University’s Volgenau School of Engineering, and serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for the MITRE Corporation. He is also a member of the Defense Science Board.

Regarding Dr. Kerr’s appointment as a Senior Fellow and Member of the Potomac Institute’s Board of Regents, Institute Chairman and CEO Michael Swetnam said, “Don Kerr is one of this country’s most distinguished leaders. It is a profound honor to have him join us.”

Dr. Kerr was confirmed by the Senate on October 4, 2007, as Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and served in that position until January 20, 2009. From July 21, 2005, Dr. Kerr served as the fifteenth Director of the National Reconnaissance Office. He previously served as Deputy Director for Science and Technology at the Central Intelligence Agency, a position he assumed in August of 2001. From 1997 until 2001, Dr. Kerr was an Assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in charge of the Laboratory Division. Dr. Kerr’s prior government service was with the Department of Energy from 1976 through 1979, first in Las Vegas as Deputy Manager of Nevada Operations, and subsequently in Washington, DC, as the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary for Defense Programs and later for Energy Technology.

He has also held several key executive positions in private industry. From 1993 through 1996, he was Corporate Executive Vice President and Director at Science Applications International Corporation. Dr. Kerr was President and Director of EG&G, Inc., from 1989 through 1992. He served as a Director of Resources for the Future from 1990 through 1999 and on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Manufacturers Board from 1987 through 1992. He currently acts as an advisor for several aerospace and defense firms.

Dr. Kerr was the fourth Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1979 to 1985. He was also employed at Los Alamos from 1966 until 1976, conducting and leading research in high altitude weapons effects, nuclear test detection and analysis, weapons diagnostics, ionospheric physics, and alternative energy programs.

Dr. Kerr received his Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1963 and went on to earn an MS (1964) in microwave electronics and a PhD(1966) in plasma physics and microwave electronics, all from Cornell University. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Listen to the interview

See more coverage of his book “Falling Back to Earth”

By Mark J. Albrecht

The Washington Times

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

NASA has scheduled the final launch of the space shuttle Atlantis for Friday. This 12-day mission to the International Space Station not only will be the final space-shuttle flight, but, without a serious course correction, augurs the end of America’s pre-eminence in space altogether.

Since 1960, America’s space program has been the crown jewel and Exhibit A of American exceptionalism. It has been a symbol of our spirit, ingenuity and technological prowess. It has fueled and sustained an economic expansion unparalleled in history and has powered the most awesome and unrivaled global military capability since the Roman Empire.

Yet our space program has been in a slow and steady decline since the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1989, our lead in all aspects of space and space technology was so large that even decades of neglect, waste and inaction have left us without peer in almost all categories even today. This won’t last long. We are eating our technology seed corn.

How did this happen? It wasn’t because of inattention. President George H. W. Bush saw the coming crisis as he took office in 1989 and took bold and courageous steps to prevent reversing course on space exploration. In the face of a call for a defense “peace dividend” in 1990, he added money for new launch capabilities, for programs including the National Aerospace Plane and a new National Launch System. He beefed up spending on the advanced work of the Strategic Defense Initiative and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), all while sustaining an almost 20 percent cut in defense spending overall.

For NASA, Mr. Bush requested a one-time 25 percent increase in spending and a plan for 10 percent annual increases for five years thereafter. On July 20, 1989, the 20th anniversary of the landing of Apollo XI on the moon, he stood on the steps of the National Air and Space Museum and called for a new round of exploration, back to the moon, this time to stay, and then a journey to tomorrow, a human mission to Mars. His justification was simple: It is Americans’ destiny to explore and to lead. Mr. Bush’s program plan was steady and even, with heavy emphasis on new technology development and new ways of doing business. His vision was clear: We would continue our exploration of space not in competition, but in cooperation with the nations of the world, even our recent enemy, Russia. None of those plans came to fruition. The reasons are clear. Our institutions are bloated, wasteful and bureaucratic. Elected representatives act as fiscal stewards of jobs in their states and districts, making efficient and coherent allocation of resources nearly impossible. Private industry wields its consolidated power to smother competition, grow cost and mimic its slow and bureaucratic customer. And the academic community, for its part, deftly uses its power to influence, adjudicate and validate government science initiatives to ensure that it gets its “fair share” of the exploration pie.

The system has become adept at resisting reprioritization and powerful in protecting itself and the status quo. The only successful initiatives to alter the direction of our space efforts at the national level since the end of the Cold War have been negative. Cuts count; they force change.

President Clinton dramatically reoriented and redefined the space station by cutting its budget in half and threatening to cancel it outright. President Obama has changed the human spaceflight program by letting the shuttle fly out, commercializing operations of the space station and canceling the Constellation program. His intention, properly, is to use the savings to underwrite new developments. Even in the best of times this would be difficult, but current fiscal realities are likely to push Congress to harvest much of the savings for deficit reduction. Worse, the president’s space team is sending conflicting signals about its commitment to his plan.

For decades, America introduced inventions to the world, such as high-speed and personal computers, robotics, satellite telecommunications, lasers, solar panels, laparoscopic surgery, nanomachines and nuclear medicine, and built industries and high-tech jobs around each of them in a seemingly unending cavalcade of spinoff technologies developed by our space programs. Will space remain an economic and technological catalyst for America in the coming decades, or is our future in innovations like Facebook and Twitter?

The conventional wisdom in the federal bureaucracy is that you can reduce spending or you can restructure, reprioritize and reorganize. You can cut programs or start new programs. But you can’t do both. Now, our backs are to the wall. To re-establish our leadership in space, we must defy conventional wisdom and cut spending, start new initiatives and radically restructure a mature agency – all at the same time. It won’t be pleasant, and it won’t be easy, but neither was putting a man on the moon.

Mark J. Albrecht is chairman of U.S. Space. He was the principal adviser on space to President George H. W. Bush and author of “Falling Back to Earth: A First Hand Account of the Great Space Race and the End of the Cold War” (New Media Books, 2011).

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/6/americas-space-program-is-crashing/print/