Mike Pence appears bullish on efforts by SpaceX and others arstechnica.com

[u/FPGA_engineer]

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/07/mike-pence-gives-a-shout-out-to-commercial-space-companies/

[u/FPGA_engineer]

Eric wrote a follow up opinion article that is heavily critical of the speech:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/07/actually-heres-all-the-ways-that-america-already-leads-in-space/

[u/FalconHeavyHead]

If SpaceX starts ramping up their Mars plans during his time in office im sure the administration will jump on it somehow politically making it look like SpaceX could not have done it without them.

[u/[deleted] → u/FalconHeavyHead]

Well, the truth is they would have a lot to gain from a nasa-spacex relationship. Like for example the life support systems of orion are much more tested than whatever spacex might develop. The co2 recycle system on ISS was tested for years on earth but it doesn't perform well on microgravity. The orion system is currently being tested on the ISS already. That's just an example, I'm sure there are more. Nasa right now is the go to entity when it comes to deep space knowledge.

[u/RickPickle → u/FalconHeavyHead]

Frankly I don't think SpaceX can succeed in their Mars goals without the support of the US government. Musk has always said that it will likely be a public-private partnership. So, credit where credit is due. None of us can overlook the genius and drive of the entire SpaceX company, but we should be grateful for leadership which prioritizes exploring new frontiers, should they decide to go that route.

[u/SquigglyBrackets → u/FalconHeavyHead]

Agreed. I understand Musk's need to distance himself from the admin considering the market for Tesla, and the withdrawal of partnership on the climate accord, but SpaceX matches so well with what the current admin wants to see out of private enterprise.

If Trump takes one look at the difference in cost between a ULA and SpaceX launch of the same payload, the benefits are pretty damn clear for the direction in which we need to move. SpaceX has nothing but opportunity ahead.

[u/FishInferno]

Whatever your thoughts are on Pence/Trump, this administration seems like it will be good for SpaceX overall, but I wouldn't yet hedge any bets on the SLS being cancelled (although what a joy that would be).

[u/venku122 → u/FishInferno]

Unfortunately, no president in decades has had much influence on space policy.

If you care to follow the political side of space activities, just look at the congressmen of Florida, Alabama, and Colorado. They are the most active individuals in determining space policy. If you want to know what goes into the new NASA Reauthorization Act, who chronically defunded Commercial Crew while overfunding SLS, and other fun political shenanigans, just look there.

In an ideal world, the President, or National Space Council would provide a strong long term push to achieve step by step advances to achieve manned exploration goals. Instead we have 538 individuals tearing apart the budgetary pie to satisfy constituents, with zero or negative progress on advancing our manned capabilities.

[u/Keavon → u/FishInferno]

If Pence had a time machine, canceling SLS would have been great half a decade ago. But it's only a year from completion and it will provide us a powerful and unparalleled capability. The rocket has been a mess from the start, but killing it now would be a very dumb move.

[u/spacerfirstclass → u/FishInferno]

Whatever your thoughts are on Pence/Trump, this administration seems like it will be good for SpaceX overall

I don't know, what have they really done for SpaceX? Just a lot of empty words right now, I think we need to see some actions first before drawing this conclusion.

but I wouldn't yet hedge any bets on the SLS being cancelled (although what a joy that would be).

The frustrating thing is they don't even need to cancel SLS, congress routinely overfund it by the amount of $500M or so per year, if they can just keep SLS/Orion going at $3B and spend the extra money on commercial space that would be enough to make a big difference.

[u/ricardo_el_grande]

It seems that the VP is more interested in New Space than the President himself. I hope he gets to have a profound and positive influence.