I have just returned from witnessing up close and personal the launch of the final mission of the Shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The second picture below shows how close I was able to get to the launch pad the day before the launch. Needless to say, the launch was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. The tension leading up to the final ten seconds before launch was palpable as my engineer colleagues from Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, which developed and produces the shuttle's main engines, worked through the launch sequence of activities in their minds in solemn tribute to their colleagues in the launch center who were making the vital countdown decisions. When you consider everything that must go right in just the right sequence, it truly is a marvel of engineering and foresight. Those of you who have come to view these shuttle launches as “business as usual” (and that’s most everyone), you might be interested to know that there was a time when no one was convinced the shuttle could ever be developed. 

 

In the 1970s the shuttle was only a concept with a relatively small team across several companies working on the early stages of design, trying to figure out if at least on paper this thing could get into orbit. Like any game-changing technology, the team (which included my husband who was then in his early twenties) was mocked with the usual, “you guys are nuts; it’ll never work” and a lot of other equally taunting remarks. But they persisted in the firm belief that this type of vehicle was the future of space flight. And like other great minds before them and to follow, they were right. 

 

Fast forward to May 2010 and this technological marvel—the shuttle--that some thought would never happen has now flown 132 missions with only two losses—a spectacular record that any product developer would envy. In fact, the US is the only country as of today to have flown manned shuttle missions.  

 

This launch was particularly nostalgic for everyone who has had anything to do with the program because it was the last mission for Atlantis, which has been hauling modules for installation on the International Space Station (ISS) and most recently servicing the Hubble Telescope. There are only two more missions for the shuttle program and then Congress will shut down funding leaving the US to depend on Russian vehicles for transport until we have a replacement.

 

I bring this issue up to highlight the difference between product development in the public sector (government funded) and product development in the private sector (think of Peter's recent post about Steve Jobs and Apple). No entrepreneur worth his or her salt would ever shut down a product line before they have a replacement ready to launch. You risk losing your customers to a competitor. No entrepreneur would ever allow a gap of several years between generations of a technology because someone is always there to fill in that gap. China is pouring enormous amounts of money into their space program with plans to be on the moon in the next decade.

 

In the private sector you can’t survive with the type of strategy, or should I say lack of foresight, that the government has had relative to the space industry. There are many who believe that the New Space entrepreneurs like Elon Musk (SpaceX) will fill the gap, but this is an enormous gap to fill quickly for a young company with only one successful launch of an unmanned rocket. And even SpaceX depends heavily on government funding.