Rudy pledges to support space industry

Rudy Giuliani and his wife, Judith, met with concerned space industry representatives today and said he would support reducing the "gap." Photo by Craig Bailey

Space industry representatives heard magic words from presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani after they explained that the U.S. faces a five-year gap in human spaceflight.

"This is not acceptable," said the Republican, on a tour of Florida to boost his flagging status in the presidential race. "America should be No. 1 and shouldn't have to be dependent on other countries."

About 35 space industry leaders met with Giuliani Friday in Port Canaveral to push their vision of a well-funded space industry. They hope Giuliani's interest will make funding the space industry a national priority.

A lack of funding will leave a five-year "gap" between the end of the shuttle program in 2010 and launch of the next generation space vehicle. During the gap, U.S. astronauts will depend on Russian rockets to reach the International Space Station, which was largely funded with U.S. dollars.

"Our goal is, let's make sure we close this gap," said Giuliani, after hearing the dire consequences of losing leadership in the space industry.

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Mike Rein said that losing the lead in space technology would be like an army losing the high ground during battle.

"Militaries and nations win wars by owning the high ground," said Rein, now communications manager for United Launch Alliance. "Space is the high ground of the future, and we must own it at all times."

Norman Bobczynski, director of launch operations for Space Exploration Corporation, said the United States is fourth in the number of commercial launches worldwide.

"This isn't about a nice campaign issue," said Bobczynski. "This is about a national crisis."

Space X, owned by Internet mogul Elon Musk, plans to build and launch a commercial rocket from Cape Canaveral with the next few years. The U.S. launches only 10 percent of the commercial rockets worldwide, he said.

"We have floundered in the area of commercial space," Bobczynski said. "We're working very hard to develop rockets that will fill that gap."

Before the roundtable discussion, Giuliani toured Kennedy Space Center Friday afternoon with his wife, Judith. He viewed shuttle Atlantis, scheduled for a Feb. 7 launch after a two-month delay.

"It's remarkable to see it up close," said Giuliani. "The space program is one of America's remarkable achievements."