A 2010 survey by the Space Foundation ranked him as one of the nation's most popular space heroes. Which is why the Air Force officials overseeing the Pentagon's space program better be scrubbing their PowerPoint presentations for when the new Under Secretary comes calling. It wanted at least two U.S.-based commercial launch service providers that could meet all national security launch requirements. The Air Force is currently considering proposals from several sources. Under the terms of the solicitation the Air Force released, the winning commercial launch providers must be able to reach all nine national-security reference orbits, which necessitates developing launch capabilities beyond anything the commercial world is likely to require.

Source: Forbes March 12, 2018 15:45 UTC