Space Foundation CEO: FY2008 Budget Proposal Inadequate to Assure Continued U.S. Leadership in Space

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Feb. 5, 2007) — Following today’s release of the President’s FY2008 Budget, Space Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Elliot G. Pulham said, `Given the many demands upon the U.S. federal budget, most notably for war costs, entitlement programs, and homeland security, it is admirable that the administration’s proposed FY2008 budget preserves a modicum of funding for the nation’s space programs civil, commercial and national security. Unfortunately, as recent world events have shown, merely maintaining our current level of space capability is a flawed approach when placed in the context of emerging, competing, and even hostile space capabilities all over the world. The nation can, and must, do more to ensure that NASA and NOAA continue to lead the world in space science and exploration; to ensure that U.S. commercial space companies have the support of government agencies like the FAA and the FCC; and to ensure that we re-invest in national security space systems to assure space superiority for the intelligence, defense and homeland security agencies charged with protecting U.S. citizens in a dangerous world.

“The Space Foundation continues to recommend a ‘1 percent solution’ to ensure our exploration and Earth observation capabilities are funded for success instead of for delay, program stretch-outs and failure. This solution would set aside 1 percent of the U.S. federal budget for these programs, as compared to the current .7 percent. We were greatly dismayed by the House of Representatives’ recent decision to roll back civil space funding to unacceptably low levels for FY2007. We urge the Senate to reverse this dangerous retrenchment.

“Further, until America’s disastrous ITAR policies can be revised, we suggest more funding and staffing for the State Department to provide timely and responsive regulation of international space commerce. And recognizing the nation’s dependence upon aging national security space systems, we strongly recommend more robust funding for new Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office space programs. As the rest of the world develops and deploys its own space systems, it becomes more crucial that we make the necessary investments to protect our current space capabilities and to develop new systems that assure continued U.S. strength and leadership.”

Note to Editors: Pulham will be available for comment in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Space Foundation Vice President, Washington Operations, Research and Analysis, Marty Hauser will be available for comment in Washington, D.C.

About the Space Foundation

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, the Space Foundation is a national nonprofit organization that vigorously advances civil, commercial, and national security space endeavors and inspires, enables, and propels tomorrow’s explorers. The Space Foundation also has an office in Washington, D.C., and field representatives in Houston, Texas, and Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Space Foundation is a leader in space awareness activities, trade association services, research and analysis for the global space industry, and educational enterprises that bring space into the classroom. The Space Foundation conducts the premier annual gathering of the global space community, the National Space Symposium, which takes place April 9-12, 2007, at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. Along with partnering organizations, the Space Foundation also conducts Strategic Space and Defense (Oct. 9-11, 2007), in Omaha, Neb. For more information, visit www.SpaceFoundation.org.