Why is commercial space possible?

Michelle Sybouts

July 2008

  1. The space industry thus far has been primarily used for government utility, minus a few commercial satellite applications and the recent space tourism ventures. This often leads many to question the feasibility of a commercial space industry. In this section we will look at how another sector, aviation successfully made a similar leap from experimental government endeavors to a significant business market.
  2. Government use for cargo transport
  3. [In 1917], Congress appropriated $100,000 for an experimental airmail service that was to be conducted jointly by the Army and the Post Office between Washington and New York, with an intermediate stop in Philadelphia.(9)
  4. It was first proposed by post office (civilian government)
  5. Post Office Department urged the Army Signal Corps to lend its planes and pilots to the Post Office to start an airmail service. Carrying the mail, the Department argued, would provide invaluable cross-country experience to student flyers. The Secretary of War agreed.
  6. During the first three months of operation, the Post Office used Army pilots and six Jenny training planes of the Army (JN-4Hs) . On August 12, 1918, the Post Office took over all phases of the airmail service, using newly hired civilian pilots and mechanics and six specially built mail planes from the Standard Aircraft Corporation.(10)
  7. By using airplanes the Post Office was able to shave 22 hours off coast-to- coast mail deliveries.(10)
  8. The same year Congress passed the Contract Mail Act, President Calvin Coolidge appointed a board to recommend a national aviation policy.
  9. The CAA
  10. On February 2,1925, Congress passed a law "to encourage commercial aviation and to authorize the Postmaster General to contract for mail service."(10)
  11. The Post Office immediately invited bids for its routes by commercial aviation. By the end of 1926, 11 out of 12 contracted airmail routes were operating.
  12. The first commercial airmail flight in the United States occurred on February 15, 1926. (10)
  13. As commercial airlines took over, the Post Office Department transferred its lights, airways, and radio service to the Department of Commerce, including 17 fully equipped stations, 89 emergency landing fields, and 405 beacons. Terminal airports, except those in Chicago, Omaha, and San Francisco, which were government properties, were transferred to the municipalities in which they were located. (10)
  14. Some planes were sold to airmail contractors; others were transferred to interested government departments.
  15. By September 1, 1927, all airmail was carried under contract.
  16. So once the feasibility of airmail was firmly established, and airline facilities were in place, the government moved to transfer airmail service to the private sector by way of competitive bids.
  17. The legislative vehicle for the move was the 1925 Contract Air Mail Act(10)
  18. Many of these companies who flew the mail started carrying passengers on flights. In 1926, airlines in the US carried 6,000 passengers. By 1930, passengers flying on US airlines had soared to 400,000.
  19. Communication Networks
  20. Originally the army set up beacons for nighttime navigation
  21. After one year, the post office took over control of the guidance system and expanded the network of beacons
  22. This represents a move from military to civilian
  23. We propose that a similar shift can successfully occur from government/ civilian to commercial/civilian
  24. Government incentive for innovation and mass production/ use (WW2)
  25. Airlines transferred from mail to people
  26. Prizes revitalized industry
  27. Lindbergh