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The Space Frontier Foundation is an American space advocacy
nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...
organized to promote the interests of increased involvement of the private sector, in collaboration with government, in the exploration and development of space. Its advocate members design and lead a collection of projects with goals that align to the organization's goals as described by its credo.


History

The foundation was founded in 1988 by space activists led by Rick Tumlinson, Bob Werb and Jim Muncy who felt that: "it was technically possible to realize their shared vision of large-scale...settlement of the inner solar system... utthey knew this was not happening (and couldn't happen) under the status-quo centrally planned and exclusive U.S. government space program." Since 2005 the foundation has relied heavily on NASA funding, including a recent $110,000 award for business competition. Thomas Olson appeared on The Space Show to promote the competition. The competition takes place during the foundation's New-Space 12 conference, which is sponsored by NASA. The foundation supported the George W. Bush Administration's
Vision for Space Exploration The Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) was a plan for space exploration announced on January 14, 2004 by President George W. Bush. It was conceived as a response to the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster, the state of human spaceflight at NASA, ...
. In March, 2005, the foundation praised the selection of Dr. Michael Griffin as the next administrator of NASA. A press release said "Mike Griffin will be a good captain for NASA." Bob Werb, the foundation chairman, said "Mike Griffin knows more about space and capitalism than the last three administrators combined. Vision-killing bureaucrats inside and outside of government should be trembling in their boots." Richard Tumlinson said, "This bodes well for the emerging New Space industry."


Activities and policies

In recent years, the Space Frontier Foundation has been supportive of various private sector efforts such as the Ansari X Prize, the
SpaceShipOne SpaceShipOne is an experimental air launch, air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with sub-orbital spaceflight capability at speeds of up to / using a hybrid rocket motor. The design features a unique "Feathering (reentry), feathering" atmosph ...
project, and entrepreneur Robert Bigelow's plans to build a space hotel. The foundation has been critical of the U.S. government's efforts in space, particularly those of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the United States's civil space program, aeronautics research and space research. Established in 1958, it su ...
. For example, the foundation has criticized NASA's
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...
and
Ares I Ares I was the crew launch vehicle that was being developed by NASA as part of the Constellation program. The name "Ares" refers to the Greek deity Ares, who is interpretatio graeca, identified with the Roman god Mars (mythology), Mars. Ares I w ...
, claiming that the shuttle's work could be better done by private sector companies. However, the foundation has supported some recent NASA efforts, such as NASA's Centennial Challenges prize program for stimulating private-sector innovation and the new NASA direction of cancelling Constellation in favour of technology development and supporting commercial companies. The foundation's current strategic focus is to enable the growth of the NewSpace community. The foundation's
board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...
has endorsed the following objectives: *The Space Frontier Foundation's mission is to open the space frontier to permanent human settlement; *An open frontier can only be achieved by unleashing the power of
free enterprise In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
; *Government's role in unleashing the power of free enterprise is critical and best accomplished by adopting the proven frontier paradigm of catalyzing the
private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...
; *All parts of all governments must embrace and fully utilize the potential of the emerging NewSpace Industry, and; *Regarding NASA, the near-term focus of the foundation is on maximizing the market share of goods and services that the NewSpace industry is permitted to capture.


Affiliations

The foundation is a founding executive member of the
Alliance for Space Development The Alliance for Space Development is a space advocacy organization dedicated to influencing space policy Space policy is the political decision-making process for, and application of, public policy of a state (or association of states) regardi ...
.


Membership

The foundation's membership is composed of volunteers who typically fall into one of two groups. The regular members are those who provide a large amount of the volunteer work necessary to operate the projects that support the conferences and many other less obvious processes associated with a corporate office. Regular members donate time and money as they can in accordance with other demands upon them. Advocate members are those who are invited to step to the next level and help run the projects, start new ones, and fund the foundation's activities. Advocates are those who have demonstrated a high degree of understanding and commitment to the foundation's goals along with a track record of action toward these goals. Advocates are asked to donate more time and money on a regular basis and are the voting members that decide elections for the foundation's board of directors.


Projects

Projects are the primary means by which the foundation acts in support of its goals. Projects are advocate managed activities with their own objectives, budgets, and volunteer support teams. Each project pursues what its members think they can accomplish using the skills they have. Advocates working each project assume the responsibility for keeping them aligned with Foundation objectives as best they can. This mostly decentralized approach to action is intentional and a core tradition of the foundation. Past projects include The Watch, an
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
and
comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...
detection and research project, Permission to Dream, connecting students around the world through the wonder of space and
astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
, sponsorship of conferences, and the Space Settlement Project in marketing space to the general public. Current projects include Teachers in Space, a program to offer American teachers rides on future
sub-orbital spaceflight A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the primary (astronomy), gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not complete one orbital ...
launches. Furthermore, the foundation hosts its annual ''NewSpace'' conference every year in July, which enables NewSpace leaders to meet and collaborate regarding the future of the movement.


See also

* NewSpace *
Privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
* Space settlement


References


External links

* {{Authority control Scientific organizations established in 1988 Space advocacy organizations Space organizations