Commercial Space Funding Could Be Boon For Boeing, Orbital Sciences

Congressional moves regarding a NASA funding authorization bill could severely constrain efforts for the fledgling commercial space industry to effectively take over transportation of U.S. astronauts. President Barack Obama requested $3.3 billion investment over five years that would foster private development of rockets and spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from low Earth orbit, where the International Space Station is located. However, the spending proposals in Congress are offering far less money for commercial companies such Space Exploration Technologies, Orbital Sciences ORB, and Boeing BA. A bill passed by the U.S. Senate August 5 only authorizes $1.3 billion for commercial crew initiatives, and a bill stalled in the House only authorizes $150 million over a three year period. A solid source of federal funding could be a boon to Boeing and Orbital Sciences, which have seen stock prices fall over the past month. With the issue in limbo due to the Congressional recess, NASA has sought to reassure firms during an industry event August 19. In addition, government contracts have been on the decline over the past two years, and dedicated space companies like Orbital Sciences would be looking at reduced revenue as those fall. After the final shuttle flight, which pending legislation could place as late as next year, NASA will have to buy flights to the station from the Russian space program, which currently stands at $55.83 million per seat. Chairman Mark Sirangelo of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, an industry group supporting commercial vehicle development, openly questioned during a panel at NewSpace 2010 - a conference for space entrepenuers - why NASA couldn't do the same thing for American businesses. Boeing is teaming up with Bigelow Aerospace to build a commercial space station in 2015, with a per-astronaut launch cost of $24.9 million. However, federal funding is key to near-term development costs, according to Vice-President Brewster Shaw, of Boeing's space exploration division. "The money that NASA has proposed closes the business case," Shaw said. "Without that, we would have a difficult time."