The Marshall Institute is organizing a roundtable discussion about the role the private sector could play in the new space initiative. Right now the only speaker listed is Pete Worden, the retired Air Force general currently working for Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), chair of the space subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee. Brownback has been pushing for greater commercialization of the initiative: during a hearing a couple weeks ago about NASA’s Mars exploration efforts, he queried the NASA officials about their planned 2008 lunar orbiter and suggested that things like “sponsorships” by companies could play a role in the mission. The talk is scheduled for Wednesday, April 7, at noon in room G-11 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
