Nasa chief Charles Bolden told lawmakers he is confident that commercial industry will be able to make a new spacecraft for taking humans into orbit after the US shuttle programme ends.
Mr Bolden faced some scepticism from Congress as he testified before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology to discuss President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2012 budget request of $18.7 billion for the US space agency.
“I am certain that commercial entities can deliver,” said Mr Bolden, after fielding repeated questions about cost, safety and how long it will take to replace the shuttle as a mode of access to the International Space Station. “We have got to develop commercial capability to get into low Earth orbit,” he said. “The nation needs to become unafraid of exploration. We need to become unafraid of risks.”
Last year, SpaceX became the first private company to successfully launch its own space capsule into orbit and back, a feat Mr Bolden described as “awesome.”
The Dragon capsule carried no crew, but SpaceX is working on a cargo launch to the orbiting space station for later this year. Mr Bolden said Nasa was sticking to its planned 2015-2016 timeframe for developing a new mode of travel for taking crew into orbit, but added that is “dependent” on private industry.
Industry leaders have promised him it would take “three years to the day after they sign a contract” to get a spacecraft up and running for crew transport, he said. No one has yet signed such a contract.
Mr Bolden expressed optimism when asked by one Florida lawmaker what he should tell the thousands of his constituents who will lose their jobs at Kennedy Space Centre once the shuttle programme ends. “You should tell them the future of human spaceflight is bright and robust and we need their help in rapidly developing new systems so we can go and explore,” he said.
The 30-year-old space shuttle programme is set to end after the final two launches scheduled for later this year – Endeavour in April and Atlantis in June. After that, astronauts will rely on Russia’s Soyuz craft for access to the ISS.