Saturday, January 19, 2008

ProSpace March Storm Space Activism and a Space Prize Bill

Space Politics posts on some space activist efforts, including the ProSpace March Storm that advocates several positions favorable to commercial space, including the Aeronautics and Space Prize Act. See the March Storm Agenda Update and an earlier post on ProSpace in 2008. Among other points, they state:

We also welcome the introduction of the Aeronautics and Space Prize Act (H.R. 4917), which proposes and aeronautics and space prize program to develop aerospace research and development.

I'm a little worried about this part of the Act:

(2) with the advice of NASA and other agencies as appropriate, to carry out a program for tasteful advertising of commercial products and services in conjunction with the Nation's aeronautics and space endeavors in conjunction with NASA, other agencies involved in aeronautics and space, or independently; and

It seems like this might compete with entrepreneurs, and even prize competitors and alliance organizations running the prize competitions, if they want to get sponsorships. Last year it seemed to me that the Space Act of 2007 that ProSpace supported didn't have this potential disadvantage.