Public Private Partnerships

One facet of the Obama administration's strategy to get the economy moving again is the creation of public-private partnerships. Mostly, such partnerships are aimed at creating jobs and getting private companies back on track by providing government funding and are focused on building out infrastructure of various kinds. The idea is to provide jobs immediately while also laying the foundation for a stronger economy in the future.

The Obama plan for the future of manned spaceflight at NASA also focuses on building a technological infrastructure that will support a long term space exploration problem. Further, the plan seeks to encourage the private sector to develop a true space-based part of the economy. So, might public-private partnerships focused on specific projects work in space, as well?

Bigelow Aerospace, for example, is ready to try to begin establishing manned space stations in Earth orbit, using its inflatable module technology, that could serve as research outposts, factories, or even hotels. The single greatest obstacle to opening space to commerce is getting to low Earth orbit reliably and relatively inexpensively. Coupling NASA expertise and some federal resources with private resources and the profit motive might hasten the building of a space infrastructure.

While President Obama is committed to increased spending and infrastructure building, partnering with private industry to build specific projects related to opening space might be as useful as such partnerships to build highways or rural Internet access.