Space Access 2007

Space Access '07
official announcement

Overview
Thu 22 Mar afternoon
Thu 22 Mar evening
Fri 23 Mar morning
Fri 23 Mar afternoon
Fri 23 Mar evening
Sat 24 Mar morning
Sat 24 Mar afternoon

by Ian Kluft

These are notes I took from the presentations at the Space Access 2007 Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

Friday Morning, March 23, 2007

George French III
9 am George French, Rocketplane Kistler

  • intro of Rocketplane Kistler
  • everything seems to be "75% complete by weight", which is a figure obviously aimed at investors
  • overview of everyone they have an agreement with including their Travel Agent
  • announced MOU with Bigelow Aerospace for K1 passenger launch services to Bigelow Aerospace space station/hotel beginning in 2012


9:40 Dana Andrews, Andrews Space & Technology

  • started in 1999
  • company has doubled in revenue every year - $8M last year
  • working on lots of space-related design projects
  • rapid prototyping
  • analysis of space station approach and robot arm operations for Rocketplane Kistler's K1 services for Bigelow space hotel
  • "Be a catalyst on the development, exploration and commercialization of space."

10:05 Bruce Pittman, NASA Ames Research Center, Space Portal

  • "if space is so great why don't we use it more"
  • taking a cue from NASA's predecessor NACA which was made to help the fledgling aviation industry

10:20 break

Charles Miller
10:50 Charles Miller, DoD support for ACESA (the Advisory Council on Entrepreneurial Space Access)

  • made a report on creating a 21st century version of NACA
  • focus on operational response to space
  • first meeting of the advisory body likely to happen before end of FY2007
  • DoD also interested in rapid re-launch of space assets lost in war
  • NewSpace industry is needed to develop lower cost higher rate launches


11:20 am Kerry Scarlott, ITAR

  • ITAR = International Traffic in Arms Regulations
  • regulation is effective for munitions, problematic for technology issues
  • often seen as prohibition against interaction with foreigners
  • but that isn't always true
  • unlikely that significant change will happen in the next few years
  • problem for US competitiveness, foreign companies won't deal with us

11:50 Panel, ITAR - Randall Clague, Jim Muncy, Kerry Scarlott, Rand Simberg

  • Randall Clague:
    • has to go around the shop weekly and stamp technical info "ITAR"
  • Rand Simberg:
    • "all we can do is mend it, not end it"
    • "things get on the list for no obvious reason"
  • Jim Muncy
    • "I was there when Congress screwed this up"
  • lots of going around the issue of export controls