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Author
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Topic: Who should own commercial space hardware?
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SpaceAholic
Member Posts: 5555
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-17-2026 12:55 PM
   
Jon Kelvey, writing for Aerospace America, reached out to five experts and asked them: In light of the rapidly growing role of commercial space companies, who should own the hardware, both during missions and after? Can NASA ensure the reliability of spacecraft developed for services contracts in the same way it does for spacecraft it owns? Will private companies preserve history-making spacecraft in the same way NASA did with much of the Apollo hardware, transferring ownership to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum? Among those responding: - Charlie Bolden, former astronaut and NASA Administrator
- Mike Gold, president of commercial spaceflight company Redwire and former NASA associate administrator for policy and plans
- Christopher Johnson, senior director legal affairs and space law at the Secure World Foundation
- Geoff Nunn, adjunct curator of space history at The Museum of Flight
- Rachel Tillman, historian and founder of the Viking Mars Education and Preservation Project
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drs. j
Member Posts: 30
From: Nes, Netherlands
Registered: Jul 2014
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posted 02-18-2026 03:42 AM
In my view the financier of the hardware, e.g. NASA funded Apollo, so owns the Apollo hardware.SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab (to name a few) funded their hardware development and in this light owns that hardware. |
oly
Member Posts: 1520
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 02-18-2026 04:36 AM
This gets complicated.SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon probably would not exist in its current form if it had not been funded via the NASA Commercial Resupply System and Commercial Crew programs. The crew rating standards were put together by NASA and the FAA, and the original contract stipulated that a design freeze was established to that standard before the system could be certified to fly ISS-related missions. All Dragon crewed flights derive from that design. SpaceX owns their proprietary information, but technically, the rocket that flew the first commercial crewed mission to the ISS was paid for by NASA. |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 2032
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 02-18-2026 08:48 AM
It all depends on the contract, whether it is for hardware or services. quote:
Originally posted by oly:
...had not been funded via the NASA Commercial Resupply System and Commercial Crew programs.
Development was partially funded by COTS. CRS was only payment for services as well as CCP. CCIP was partial funding of development of Crew Dragon. None for those contracting mechanisms or contracts were for hardware, just data or services. |
Axman
Member Posts: 881
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 02-19-2026 05:31 AM
I think it depends where the hardware is after the mission. Successfully recovered articles and wrecked articles (on Earth), non-functioning articles and wrecked and/or abandoned articles (in space) have different difficulty levels in assigning ownership.I think it is time for a new convention on space hardware which deals with this issue the same way that the international 1989 Salvage Convention formalised maritime salvage law. |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 2032
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 02-20-2026 09:27 AM
quote:
Originally posted by oly:
SpaceX owns their proprietary information, but technically, the rocket that flew the first commercial crewed mission to the ISS was paid for by NASA.
NASA paid for a launch service. It is still SpaceX's vehicle. It is like a taxi service. |
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