Space Missions Rely On Private Sector Engagement, NASA Official Says

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NASA's ongoing efforts to launch Earth-observing satellites and unmanned probes into space are dependent upon private sector collaboration, according to an official with the nation's space agency.

Akash Vangani — deputy chief engineer for NASA's Launch Services Program — said during a GovExec event on Aug. 28, that the agency's launch of critical scientific and robotic payloads would likely not be possible without the cost-saving nature of these commercial partnerships.

"We're using commercial, which gives a great value to the taxpayers because our satellites are so unique and so expensive," Vangani said, adding that "no one's going to insure us, and so we are — like my team — is that mission assurance."

Vangani said all of the recently launched low-Earth satellites "are the launches that we do, and we're unique that we do that with commercial rockets." This included NASA's June launch of its fourth and final Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites — or GOES — the most advanced geostationary weather satellite placed in orbit.

"We need some crazy temperature requirements, or we need purges to make sure our instruments will survive in space," he said. "And so a lot of it is just working with those launch vehicle providers to make sure that they can meet the requirements. And the requirements are getting more and more challenging as we're pushing the boundaries of space."