Low Cost Space Operations: Empty Promise Or Future Reality

The Space Shuttle has been heralded as the costeffective replacement for unmanned boosters. Many hardware -oriented studies have been performed, showing potential cost savings as compared to past operations. More recently, studies of management approaches and implementation procedures have indicated a potential for significant additional improvements in effectiveness. To what extent are these potential reductions in costs and complexities likely to be realized? To reorient the internal NASA thinking on hardware and procedures is but a small part of the problem. Is it possible for a government service to be efficient and self-supporting? These questions must be considered in the broader context of government operations as affected by national politics and economics and by potential commercial and foreign competition