Spending Rp. 5.76 Trillion, NASA Wants Private Companies to Build Space Stations

KOMPAS.com – The United States National Space Agency (NASA) launched the Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) project.

This project aims to encourage private companies to build and develop space station new.

Through this project NASA has poured out 400 million US dollars or around Rp. 5.76 trillion (exchange rate of Rp. 14,400 per US dollar) as a stimulus to 4 companies to start developing a new space station.

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At present it only exists Space Station International (International Space Station / ISS) which is managed by the government-owned space agencies of a number of countries, including NASA.

These stations are located in low earth orbit or low earth orbit (LEO).

Since being inhabited by astronauts in November 2000, the operation of the ISS has now entered its 20th year.

As the ISS grows older, NASA wants the private sector to be involved in building the space station.

NASA LEO Commercial Director Phil McAlister said that in low earth orbit there are three main activities, namely cargo transportation, crew transportation, and destinations or places of destination.

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So far, NASA is fully responsible for the three activities.

“If it remains that way, our aspirations in low Earth orbit will always be limited by the NASA budget. So bringing the private sector into this section, as suppliers and users, will expand the space for more people (astronauts) to be in low Earth orbit. , “explained McAlister as quoted from CNBC, Monday (29/3/2021).

Through the CLD program, NASA is also trying to imitate the success of the Commercial Cargo and Commercial Crew programs which have succeeded in getting 3 private companies involved in shipping cargo and astronauts to the ISS.

So far, NASA has shifted responsibility for two activities to the private sector, using the services of SpaceX and Northrop Grumman to deliver cargo planes to the ISS.

Likewise with SpaceX and Boeing services for launching astronauts.

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The budget savings from being a user of the space station, rather than as an owner and operator, were the main goals of NASA in developing the CLD program. This is because the usual ISS operations are expensive.

Every year the ISS costs at least 4 billion US dollars to operate.

In total, the construction and operation of the ISS has so far cost US $ 150 billion with the largest budget from NASA, although there have also been contributions from Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada.

Last year, NASA estimated that with the Commercial Crew program, the US space agency could save about 20 billion-30 billion US dollars in costs.

The funds can be used to develop two spacecraft.

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Another thing that also encourages the CLD program is the aging of various tools on the ISS.

Much of the space laboratory’s core structure was produced in the 1990s.

In the past year Russian astronauts have even patched up a small air leak in the ISS module.

“The ISS is an extraordinary system, but unfortunately it will not last forever. The ISS could experience an irreversible anomaly at any time,” said McAlister.

NASA sees the CLD program as a way for many private companies to develop and build new habitats in space in the next few years, before finally shutting down the ISS operation.

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