RE: Private Sector Financing for Moon-to-Mars Missions
Dear Senator/Representative:
Would you consider sponsoring legislation to realize the most important recommendation of the President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy, Recommendation 5-2 ?
"Recommendation 5-2. The Commission recommends that Congress increase the potential for commercial opportunities related to the national space exploration vision by:
The Aldridge commission's report outlines one of the possible ways Congress could establish a commercial incentive as recommended:
"... the Commission suggests that … as an example of a particularly challenging prize concept, $100 million to $1 billion could be offered to the first organization to place humans on the Moon and sustain them for a fixed period before they return to Earth."
The other way Congress could provide such an incentive is through establishing a system of recognized property rights in space, such as that proposed by the "Space Settlement Initiative." That way would be less conventional but would have the advantage of not requiring any appropriation of government money.
Would you consider sponsoring either one of these possible incentives for private space development?
If the private sector could be provided a powerful incentive to finance and build a regular space transportation system and permanent Lunar base, concerns about a long-range space program overly burdening the taxpayer would evaporate. Corporations like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and others already have the technical capability. All they’ve needed is a sufficient profit motivation.
The "Space Settlement Initiative," legislation that would instantly create a strong profit incentive for private industry to underwrite the development of Lunar bases, has been proposed by Mr. Alan Wasser, Chairman of the Space Settlement Institute and board member of the National Space Society.
Mr. Wasser's proposal invokes a tried-and-true mechanism used successfully by governments throughout history to encourage development of uninhabited regions – the allocation to private entities of large tracts of land in exchange for building settlements and facilities that meet government-defined standards and benefit everyone.
While traditional land grants similar to those used by the U.S. government to develop the old West are not possible in space because national ownership of land is forbidden by the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, legislation could be enacted to achieve the same ends using the related concept of "land claim recognition."
Under a land claim recognition protocol, Congress could pass legislation providing that for any private, non-government corporation or consortium that financed and built a space transportation system and permanent Moon base, a limited (but still very large) claim to Lunar land around the base would be legally "recognized" by the U.S. government.
Recognition means the government would acquiesce to, or decide not to contest, the claim – but not assume any sovereignty over it. Once the space transportation system and Lunar base were certified, the private consortium would be free to immediately mortgage or sell, back here at home, some of their Lunar land deeds to recoup their investment and make a profit.
Would you please consider sponsoring an economic incentive bill in Congress as the Aldridge Commission recommended – for either a huge monetary prize or for land claim recognition?
The opportunity exists for a farsighted Congressman to help define a significant area of future U.S. space policy – while at the same time potentially sparing taxpayers billions of dollars by creating an entirely new class of incentive for private industry.
Sincerely,
Douglas O. Jobes
President & Senior Policy Analyst
The Space Settlement Institute
P.O. Box 226
8000 Research Forest Dr., Suite 115
The Woodlands, TX 77382
douglas.jobes@spacesettlementinstitute.org
P.S. - An analysis of the space land claim recognition concept is enclosed for your review and is also available on-line at our website, www.space-settlement-institute.org. Proposed draft legislation can be viewed at www.spacesettlement.org/law. The President's Space Commission Report can be downloaded through the Commission's website, www.moontomars.org, or through NASA's website, www.nasa.gov.