Obama to Stimulate the New Race to Space

Blawgconomics might be the first to criticize politicians for boneheaded decisions, but that doesn't mean that we won't take every opportunity to applaud good choices. The fact that we have about a 50 to 1 ratio to work with clearly reflects more on the state of politics than any malice on our part, but that is a topic for another day perhaps.

With that backdrop, we were very happy to see that President Obama is planning on signing a new budget for NASA which includes some serious incentives for private companies to get involved in Low Earth Orbit commercial ventures. This ability of the Boeings of the world to bid on contracts to, for example, take astronauts to space stations and into orbit would allow NASA to focus on planetary and deep-space exploration, putting the billions of dollars in the agency's budget to more efficient use.

Though appropriation will need to wait until lawmakers return from, in many cases foolhardedly, begging for votes, the President's signature should stimulate a strong private market for efficient space travel, and therefore open up more possibilities for the space program (though Dan Brown might be mortified to read about this development). With the country facing record deficits and with the space program otherwise flagging, that can only be a good thing for space afficionados.