President Joe Biden’s choice to lead NASA — former U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson — will be in the hot seat for a host of issues in human spaceflight that will require a tricky balance between “Old Space” and “New Space.”
Nelson is a 78-year-old Florida Democrat who went on a space shuttle flight as a congressman in 1986, and served three terms in the Senate before his defeat in 2018. In today’s statement announcing his nomination, the White House said that Nelson “was known as the go-to senator for our nation’s space program,” and that “most every piece of space and science law has had his imprint.”
“I am honored to be nominated by Joe Biden and, if confirmed, to help lead NASA into an exciting future of possibilities,” Nelson said in a statement. “Its workforce radiates optimism, ingenuity and a can-do spirit. The NASA team continues to achieve the seemingly impossible as we venture into the cosmos.”
Nelson has traditionally sided with Old Space — that is, well-established aerospace companies such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
Most famously (or infamously), he championed NASA’s multibillion-dollar Space Launch System during his time in the Senate, to such an extent that the SLS came to be nicknamed the “Senate Launch System.”
The rocket engines on the first SLS core stage, which has Boeing as its prime contractor, were run through their first successful full-duration hot-fire test on Thursday. That’s in preparation for an uncrewed round-the-moon test flight that’s set for late this year or early next year — reflecting a schedule that’s years behind the original plan and a cost that’s billions of dollars above the original budget.
Even before today’s announcement of Biden’s intentions, Nelson came in for criticism from those who favor turning away from SLS and doubling down on New Space companies such as SpaceX, which is following a faster development timeline at lower cost.
“His legacy is the monster rocket, and in some ways it is poetic justice that it will be his cross to bear,” Lori Garver, who disagreed with Nelson during her days as NASA’s deputy administrator in the Obama administration, wrote in a tweet.
But the Old vs. New Space dichotomy has broken down dramatically, just in the two years since Nelson left the Senate. SpaceX, the quintessential New Space company, has become NASA’s leading operator for trips to and from the International Space Station. Meanwhile, Boeing has suffered more than a year’s worth of setbacks in getting its own CST-100 Starliner crew spacecraft into service — and lost out in its bid to build a lunar lander for NASA.
It could be argued that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture has engineered the biggest breakdown of the Old vs. New paradigm: Blue Origin is generally considered a New Space company, but its lunar lander team includes three Old Space stalwarts: Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper.
In a tweet, Blue Origin congratulated Nelson on his selection. “Your experience both on and off Earth will ensure that we’ll have strong leadership and commitment when the U.S. returns to the moon – this time to stay,” the company said.
Key decisions on NASA’s Artemis moon program will have to be made under Nelson’s watch. NASA’s total budget for the current fiscal year is roughly $23.3 billion, but some observers say it might have to be boosted by another $5 billion to $7 billion annually to fund Artemis adequately. It would be up to Nelson to sell NASA’s next budget request to his former colleagues in Congress.
Within the next month or two, NASA is expected to select which team, or teams, will get the go-ahead to build the human landing system for missions to the lunar surface. Three teams are currently in the running: Blue Origin’s “National Team,” SpaceX and Dynetics.
Congress has given NASA only about a quarter of the $3.3 billion it was seeking to support the lander development effort during the current fiscal year – and that might force the space agency to downsize its plans to have the first Artemis crew touch down in the moon’s south polar region in 2024.
If NASA’s budget is constrained, the decisions that lie ahead for SLS and Artemis could well touch off an Old vs. New Space chess game, if not a flame war. For instance, if the National Team ends up being the sole choice for Artemis’ landing system, SpaceX would almost certainly challenge the decision. But if the National Team is left out, that could set off protests from Congress that well-established companies were being passed over to go with less tried-and-true technologies.
Similar scenarios could come into play when it comes to funding NASA’s SLS rocket and Orion crew capsule vs. SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster.
If history is any guide, Nelson and congressional leaders would want to protect SLS. But SpaceX is moving full speed ahead with its plan for Starship moon trips. SpaceX even has a chance of sending people around the moon on a privately funded flight before SLS and Orion do so for NASA. Leaving SpaceX out would spark pointed questions about NASA’s priorities.
In any case, it’s almost certain that Nelson will be the Florida man making the decisions at NASA, unless he sabotages himself during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Today, Nelson won praise from former NASA chief Jim Bridenstine, acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk and the senators who will vote on confirmation.
“Bill Nelson has long been one of NASA’s strongest and most passionate advocates,” Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who chairs the Commerce Committee, said in a statement. “I am confident that he has the expertise and the political acumen to maintain and build upon the nation’s leadership in space in both the public and commercial sectors.”
That sentiment was seconded by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. “I cannot think of anyone better to lead NASA than Bill Nelson,” he said in a statement. “His nomination gives me confidence that the Biden administration finally understands the importance of the Artemis program, and the necessity of winning the 21st-century space race.”
When then-President Donald Trump picked Jim Bridenstine to become NASA’s administrator in 2017, Rubio questioned the choice because Bridenstine was an Oklahoma congressman with “political baggage.”
Nelson also voiced misgivings at the time, and voted against Bridenstine. “The head of NASA ought to be a space professional, not a politician,” he said.
If nothing else, the latest twist in Nelson’s long career should demonstrate even to his critics that people, and space perspectives, can change dramatically over time.