Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 9
| Established | Section 1092, Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for FY2001 (Public Law 106-398) |
|---|---|
| First public meeting | 27 November 2001 |
| Final report | 18 November 2002 |
| Chairman | Robert S. Walker, former Representative (Pennsylvania) |
| Vice-chairman | F. Whitten Peters, former Secretary of the Air Force |
| Members | 12: six presidential, three Senate and three House appointees |
| Space recommendation | A "space imperative", especially in propulsion and power |
| Date | 27 November 2002 |
| Topics | Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Congress & law (topic) |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 151 |
| Year | 2002 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2002 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 4 |
The Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry was created by Congress and President George W. Bush in 2001. Its task was to study the future of the U.S. aerospace industry, particularly in relation to national security.[1][4] It delivered its final report on 18 November 2002.[1][2] The report called for a national "space imperative" and for breakthroughs in propulsion and power, which drew the interest of some UFO researchers.[2] The report discusses conventional and futuristic research and does not mention UFOs.[2]
Creation and mandate
The commission was established by Section 1092 of the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2001, Public Law 106-398.[1][4] It was to study the industry "in the global economy, particularly in relationship to U.S. national security", and to report to the President and Congress by 27 November 2002.[1][4] Its mandate covered several areas:[4]
- federal aerospace research and procurement budgets
- acquisition and contract financing
- export controls and taxation
- the national space launch infrastructure
- science and engineering education
Vice President Dick Cheney praised the commission's work for "a robust U.S. aerospace industry for the twenty-first century".[4]
Members
The commission had twelve members: six appointed by the President and three each by the Senate and the House.[1]
- Presidential appointees: the chairman, Robert S. Walker, a former Pennsylvania congressman and chairman of the House Science Committee; the Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin; Ed Bolen of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association; John W. Douglass, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy and head of the Aerospace Industries Association; the astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson; and Heidi Wood of Morgan Stanley.
- Senate appointees: John Hamre, former Deputy Secretary of Defense; William Schneider Jr., chairman of the Defense Science Board; and Robert J. Stevens of Lockheed Martin.
- House appointees: the vice-chairman F. Whitten Peters, former Secretary of the Air Force; Tom Buffenbarger of the International Association of Machinists; and the former Representative Tillie Fowler.
The executive director was Charles H. Huettner.[1][2][4] Walker had been the senior science and space adviser to the Bush campaign in 2000, and was the first sitting House member to receive NASA's Distinguished Service Medal.[4]
Reports and meetings
The commission held six public meetings between November 2001 and October 2002. At these it heard testimony on air transportation capacity, export controls and space, including from NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe.[1] It issued interim reports on 18 December 2001, 20 March 2002 and 26 June 2002, and its final report on 18 November 2002.[1] The final report made nine recommendations to strengthen the industry, including modernizing air traffic control, boosting space launch capability and investing in long-range research. It warned that the United States was losing its aerospace edge.[1][2][3]
The space chapter
Chapter 3, "Space: Its Special Significance", argued that "nations aspiring to global leadership in the 21st century must be space-faring". It warned that "a sense of lethargy has infected the space industry", while Japan, China, Russia, India and France pursued space aggressively.[2] Its Recommendation 3 called on the United States to "create a space imperative", with the Defense Department, NASA and industry partnering "in innovative aerospace technologies, especially in the areas of propulsion and power".[2] The chapter made several specific points:[2]
- Launch costs. Heavy-lift rockets cost about $10,000 a pound to orbit, and the Space Shuttle never achieved its promised savings. The commission backed a joint NASA–Defense effort to cut the cost of access to space.
- Propulsion "in need of breakthrough". It described nuclear fission or fusion plasma engines that might cut a one-way trip to Mars from 28–32 weeks to about 12. It noted that NASA and the Department of Energy were conducting antimatter research which, though "far from being reality", gave "encouraging" initial results, with a 6-week Mars transit shown for antimatter propulsion.
- Power. It suggested solar power satellites as orbital "refueling stations" beaming power to spacecraft.
- National security. It proposed laser communications, space-based radar and planetary defense against near-Earth objects.
Aldrin was quoted that "attempts at developing breakthrough space transportation systems have proved illusory".[2]
UFO interest
The testimony this article draws on includes the commission because of its call for breakthrough propulsion and power research. Some UFO researchers saw this as a hint of official interest in exotic technologies.[2][4] One website reproducing the commission's materials described it as "basically a follow up" to Donald Rumsfeld's earlier commissions.[4] The technologies the report actually discusses are nuclear plasma engines, antimatter research and space solar power, all within mainstream physics. The report does not mention UFOs.[2]
People and topics
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
On the Timeline
- Gary McKinnon (November 2002) — Hacker Gary McKinnon is arrested and claims he saw a UAP image in NASA files.
- Peter Sturrock on zero-point energy (2003) (22 March 2003) — Stanford's Peter Sturrock tells Vallée he doubts Puthoff's zero-point energy work.
See every 2002 event on the UAP Timeline →
Further reading
- Skunk Works — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- U.S. congressional hearings on UFOs — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
References
- Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Final report of the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry (2002) (PDF), National Space Society · nss.org · archived copy
- "Aerospace commission issues final report", Spaceflight Now (Nov 2002) · spaceflightnow.com · archived copy
- bibliotecapleyades.net · bibliotecapleyades.net · archived copy
Facts in this article are drawn in part from the Wikipedia article “Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry”, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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