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Space — The New Economic Frontier?
As the private company SpaceX sends its first cargo delivery to the International Space Station, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced close to $500,000 in matching grants in three areas to assist with space transportation infrastructure. This includes $250,000 to the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, $24,000 to the East Kern Airport District at the Mojave Spaceport in California, and a $200,000 grant for a feasibility study to the Front Range Airport Authority, east of the Denver airport.
In addition, the first phase of Spaceport America is nearing completion in New Mexico. Spaceport America, operated by the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, is intended to be the first commercial spaceport in the world, and will be the home for the first commercial passenger space company, Virgin Galactic.
Futron Corporation, a consulting firm, recently released its fifth annual Space Competitiveness Index. The Index "defines, measures, and ranks national competitiveness in the development, implementation, and execution of space activity." For the 15 countries in the index, 15 areas are analyzed across three dimensions — government, human capital, and industry.
Highlights include:
- The United States remains the overall leader in space competitiveness, but its relative strength has declined for the fifth straight year — the only country to do so — due in large part to the uncertainly surrounding NASA;
- United States also manufactured the most spacecraft over the decade 2002-2011;
- Russia remains the launch leader and is expected to maintain that role as it continues to provide the transportation of cargo and personnel to the International Space Station, however, it suffers from talent losses;
- China surpassed the United States in number of launches, and also increased technical education and civilian research investments; and,
- International cooperation and collaboration continue to increase, particularly among the smaller space agencies.