Arizona Senator Mark Kelly speaks at the annual Commercial Space Transportation Conference on February 9, 2023.
Michael Sheetz | CNBC
Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, who has flown into space four times during a 15-year career as an astronaut, hailed the growth of the space industry and issued a rallying cry for intensified competition.
“Some of the breakthroughs are really amazing; it’s been a great success,” Kelly said during lunch at the Commercial Space Transportation Conference in Washington, DC, on Thursday.
Kelly noted that the cost of sending satellites, people and goods into orbit is currently “a fraction” of what it was when he flew on NASA’s space shuttle. He added that – while the industry’s growth is encouraging – companies building rockets need to “get in step” and bring more “new launchers to market faster and embrace renewed competition, not l ‘to choke”.
“We need more launch vehicles to continue to drive down the costs associated with getting a payload into orbit,” Kelly said.
A Falcon Heavy rocket launches the USSF-67 mission on January 15, 2023 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
SpaceX
Rockets are launching at an unprecedented rate, with 2022 setting a new annual record of 87 from the United States. Most of these have been made by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which currently launches every four days on average, but various other companies are aiming to pick up the pace and are launching new rockets in the coming years – including rocket labUnited Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, astra, pristine orbit, Northrop GrummanFirefly and ABL.
Sign up here to receive weekly editions of CNBC’s Investing in Space newsletter.
Kelly admitted that, “like maybe a lot of people in NASA and a lot of people in Washington” at the turn of the century, he was skeptical of relying on private companies for launches.
“I always like to think that I’m the first person to admit I was wrong, and I was about that,” Kelly said.
“The commercial space sector is essential. It is essential for the future of the American economy, and it is essential for our leadership abroad. Without the commercial space sector, we would not be able to bring our assets to national security in orbit. Without it, entire sectors of the U.S. economy, from telecommunications to global shipping and shipping, would not be globally competitive,” Kelly added.
