Office of Commercial Space Transportations's Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request

Opening Statement By Acting Ranking Member Jerry F. Costello

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding today’s hearing to review the Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12) budget request for the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST).

I am very familiar with the emerging commercial space transportation industry, not only from hearings I chaired in the Aviation Subcommittee, but also because the X-Prize Foundation, which is most well know for designing and managing public competitions for aviation and space, is located in St. Louis, Missouri – across the river from my Congressional district.

AST’s FY12 budget request reflects the office’s changing role as the commercial spaceflight industry expands to provide cargo and crew transportation for NASA, build space ports around the country, transport space tourists, and fulfill other missions.  Congress and the FAA will need to decide how best to proceed with respect to safety regulation of this emerging industry. 

Congress passed several laws to allow commercial space transportation to develop and we must ensure the industry has proper federal safety oversight.  As the number of launches is expected to increase with commercial space tourism and the potential use of commercial space launch vehicles by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it is imperative that the FAA has the proper resources to ensure new technologies and programs evolve safely. 

I look forward to hearing from the FAA Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, Dr. George Nield, about FAA’s role in overseeing the commercial space industry to ensure the safety of the public, as well as crew and space flight participants. 

I hope this hearing will be the first of many substantive hearings by this subcommittee to examine the current status and future challenges of commercial space operations.  We need to determine our goals for the Office of Commercial Space Transportation and evaluate the issues we must consider for the future of the AST. 

I welcome our witnesses and look forward to their testimony.  Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back the balance of my time. 
 

Witnesses

Panel

0 - Dr. George C. Nield
Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration
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0 - Dr. Gerald Dillingham
Director, Physical Infrastructure U.S. Government Accountability Office U.S. Government Accountability Office
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0 - Dr. Henry R. Hertzfeld
Research Professor of Space Policy and International Affairs The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University The Elliott School of
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