White House announces new space transportation policy

Space.com : On 21 November, the Obama administration released a new national space transportation policy to replace the previous version issued in 2004. The new policy continues the government’s support for the development of private spaceflight capabilities and for NASA’s development of a heavy-lift rocket. In the past few years NASA has partnered with several private companies—such as SpaceX and Blue Origin—that have demonstrated various levels of success launching rockets to Earth orbit. The agency is also developing the Orion capsule, which will be used to visit asteroids and for other deep-space activities. The first test flight is scheduled for next year. The heavy-lift rocket, called the Space Launch System, is scheduled to begin test launches by 2017. The timetable for NASA’s goals includes a return to manned-flight capability by 2021, with visits to near-Earth asteroids by 2025 and to Mars in the 2030s.