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 com­ plexities likely to be realized? To reorient the internal NASA thinking on hardware and procedures is but a small part of the problem. Is it possi­ ble for a government service to be efficient and self-supporting? These questions must be con­ sidered in the broader context of government operations as affected by national politics and economics and by potential commercial and foreign