The two companies most likely to benefit from President Obama’s controversial plan to outsource much of NASA’s manned space program are joining with industry experts who question whether the plan has been fully thought through.
“I think people who have been in the launcher business for many years find it hard to take the president’s plan seriously,” said industry analyst Loren Thomson in a recent New York Times article. “They think it sounds like an elaborate wake for the human spaceflight program more than a plan for moving forward.”
Boeing and Lockheed Martin have both indicated they are reluctant to invest large amounts of money to take on roles and responsibilities previously handled by NASA.
President Obama is calling for the cancellation of NASA’s current Constellation program and replacing it with rockets and crew capsules developed by commercial companies.
Tue. April 13, 2010
Also, one of the companies that are into privatization of manned space and are a big part of the new program, SpaceX, is - very - antiunion. The IAM has been a part of KSC for many years, and while many non-union workers ride the wages and benefits hard won by the represented folks, the future of union represented jobs at KSC is very much at stake here. USA (United Space Alliance) is a LLC formed by Boeing and LockMart and known to be antiunion as well (remember the 147 days of 2007? - it took congressional intervention to get it resolved). Oversight on all of this is needed desperately!