A former NASA administrator says he is \u201cencouraged\u201d that the US Congress is considering legislation to prevent NASA from spending more than 50 percent of its launch funding on any single provider.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerica succeeds in space when American companies compete, innovate, and grow,\u201d former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine wrote on LinkedIn<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m encouraged to see Congress taking meaningful steps to strengthen the industrial base that underpins both our civil and national security space missions.\u201d<\/p>\n Bridenstine commended the chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) on a new provision that appears in the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2025. Cruz plans to hold a markup hearing<\/a> for the legislation on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cCongress is reinforcing competition and protecting the small and medium-sized manufacturers, propulsion companies, avionics developers, and suppliers that make up the backbone of America\u2019s space enterprise,\u201d Bridenstine wrote. \u201cCompetition lowers costs, accelerates innovation and provides redundancy.\u201d<\/p>\n The provision appears to target SpaceX, which currently launches the only crewed vehicle capable of reaching the space station, Dragon; both US cargo vehicles (Dragon and Cygnus); as well as a majority of NASA\u2019s science missions. If passed into law, this language could effectively prohibit SpaceX from launching crewed lunar missions from Earth on Dragon or Starship for NASA in addition to its existing portfolio.<\/p>\n Lucrative lobbying<\/p>\n