Private space flight should no longer be the stuff of science fiction. But thanks to federal rules, it remains an elusive luxury.
Virgin Galactic, part of Richard Branson’s British Virgin Group, has plans to fly a commercial version of SpaceShipOne, the experimental vehicle that last year made three suborbital space flights. That achievement earned the $10 million Ansari X-Prize given to the first team to privately build a vessel that would safely fly a pilot plus the equivalent weight of two passengers into space – and then repeat that achievement within two weeks.
Virgin Galactic is a legitimate business venture. As many as 100,000 customers are expected to pay $200,000 each in the carrier’s first 12 years to soar into space for two hours from the Mojave Desert in California and other U.S. sites. But federal rules are grounding the wings of commerce.
It’s a tale of unintended consequences. Just as Virgin Galactic is a legitimate business venture, the regulations are a logical security policy. Washington’s export control rules are designed to keep hostile and unstable nations from getting their hands on U.S. technology that could be put to military use. The technology that created SpaceShipOne falls into that category.
Washington should move swiftly to carve out an exception that will allow Virgin Galactic to buy the technology-laden U.S.-made space liners. There’s no chance that long-time ally Britain will misuse the technical information. Nor will it pass on that information to hostile nations.
Export control rules serve a purpose. But they should not hinder the private sector’s technological needs to conquer – and commercialize – the Last Frontier.