Featured Speaker

Dr. George C. Nield spoke on the developments of commercial space transportation. After the retirement of the Space Shuttle, there will be a five-year gap until NASA is able to return humans to space. The FAA is seeing an increase in licensing activity and inspections on commercial space transportation systems. They are working to be prepared for the projected boom in business. Unlike NASA, which is driven by goals and funded by taxpayers, commercial space will develop based on business decisions. NASA\'s five year hiatus from human spaceflight is not a setback, just a different path of progress as not all success in space development is measured by the number of launches. The gap will be a time of establishing new roles, new vehicles, new space travelers, and new business and job opportunities.