A commission chartered by President George W. Bush recommends streamlining the NASA bureaucracy, relying more heavily on the private sector.
The commission, which Bush to convened advise him on implementing the new space exploration plan he announced last January, also urges maintaining more oversight of the nation’s space program at the White House, Space.com reported Friday.
A new report by the nine-member commission has concluded if the goals of the Bush space plan are to be met, the nation needs to commit to space exploration for the long haul, and the private sector must be given a much larger role in the U.S. space program.
“The Commission believes that commercialization of space should become the primary focus of the vision, and that the creation of a space-based industry will be one of the principal benefits of this journey,” the report — obtained by the Web site — said.
“Today an independent space industry does not really exist. Instead, we have various government funded space programs and their vendors.”
