SpaceX, NASA Contracts Evolve as Collaboration Reinvigorates American-Based Space Travel
With a federal budget that has decreased dramatically since the Space Race of the Cold War, NASA has turned to commercial contracting in order to send American astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Beginning in 2006, NASA launched its Commercial Crew Program, awarding SpaceX with a contract to deliver cargo and eventually crew to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX successfully launched the Dragon Spacecraft in 2008, followed by the Cygnus spacecraft a year later. In 2014, NASA again selected SpaceX to transport astronauts to the ISS, a feat that was accomplished twice in 2020 using the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsules. Not only was this America’s first crewed spacecraft since 2011, but it was also one of the least expensive NASA missions since the 60s.
NASA has contracted with private corporations prior to this program; however, all the costs, regardless if they exceeded their budget, were all shouldered by NASA, rendering American spaceflight a slow and costly process. These costs, combined with the dwindling budget, led NASA to rely on Russia to transport American astronauts to and from the ISS, a choice that cost around $86 million per astronaut, benefiting Russia’s space department. Under the Commercial Crew Program, private companies pay for all excess costs and retain intellectual property rights, while NASA provides safety procedures and guidelines. These collaborations not only incentivized efficiency, but optimized costs—seats aboard Crew Dragon cost around $55 million—allowing the administration to reallocate funds to other projects.
While NASA’s partnership with private companies allows for lower costs and the recommencement of American-based space travel, the nature of their agreements with private companies such as SpaceX has evolved over time. In The Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Demonstration (COTS) Space Act Agreement of 2010, NASA shouldered the production costs, sending over funds as SpaceX reached certain milestones in development, but was still limited by annual government funding. Most notably, the program was almost cut due to former President Obama’s dissolution of the Constellation deep space exploration program and remained underfunded for years. Regardless, the contributions from SpaceX, such as reusable rockets, have led to a number of successful missions.
As SpaceX and NASA collaboration progressed, the private sector began to take on more of the costs. The agreement in 2014 provided SpaceX access to the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex for commercial launches states that SpaceX will fund all operation and maintenance costs of the pad for the duration of the agreement. This collaboration will allow SpaceX to move closer towards their goal of crewed deep space explorations. While SpaceX now covers the cost of missions, NASA and the government, including the Department of Defense, play a dominant role in safety protocols and regulations. Some requirements include ensuring a 1/270 chance of catastrophic failure, and conducting years of testing such as emergency abort tests. More broadly, NASA must approve all designs and oversee all testing.
The success of this private-public collaboration has led NASA to extend private contracting beyond missions to the ISS, more recently awarding SpaceX with a contract for their Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission, a groundbreaking astrophysics mission that will allow the agency to better understand how gravitational, electric, and magnetic fields interact at their limits. On SpaceX’s side, they are continuing to work towards their more ambitious goals such as a Martian colony.
The success of the collaboration between SpaceX and NASA as well as the prospect of commercial space travel has renewed both the public and the government's interest for space exploration and policy. Former President Trump re-established the National Space Council and increased NASA’s funding, though it still only accounts for 0.4% of the national budget. Regardless, maintaining relationships with the private sector is essential, especially to meet NASA’s goals of returning to the moon by 2024.
Sarina Dev is a sophomore in the Georgetown College studying Neurobiology and Science, Technology, and International Affairs. She is interested in space law and the emerging relationship between the public and private sector.