Bonus: GTDS: NASA and the Commercialization of Space
2026-09-28 · 78 min · 11 entities
Asserted relationships
-
0.55
evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Prof. Greg Jackson
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Education
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: History
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: ProfGregJackson
Entities found in this episode
concepts 4
-
0.50
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Education
-
0.42
evidence rules-v5
Bonus: GTDS: NASA and the Commercialization of Space
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Education
-
0.35
evidence rules-v5
GTDS
companys 3
-
0.70
evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: ProfGregJackson
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: ProfGregJackson
-
0.35
evidence rules-v5
NASA
persons 2
-
0.70
evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Prof. Greg Jackson
-
0.55
evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Prof. Greg Jackson
websites 2
-
0.50
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: History
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: History
Episode description as stored
Following the Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttle disasters, the government had to rethink space exploration. In 2006, NASA launched the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, allocating $500 million to encourage American entrepreneurs to develop cost-effective cargo and crew transport for the ISS. Today, private enterprises like SpaceX, Starlink, Blue Origin, and Rocket Lab are ubiquitous. Yet none of this progress would be possible without substantial government assistance.
Joining us is Casey Dreier, Chief of Space Policy at The Planetary Society and one of the world's foremost experts on NASA's budget and the political economy of space exploration. His data-driven analysis has been cited by The New York Times, POLITICO, The Washington Post, and NPR, and in 2025 he received a SpaceNews Icon Award for his work. Casey joins us to unpack what the data actually shows about the tradeoffs of commercial spaceflight — and what's at stake if the government cedes too much control.
The government gets a bad rap. But the roads under your feet, the forecast on your phone, and the letter in your mailbox are all government too. Hosted by Professors Greg Jackson and Lindsey Cormack, Government That Doesn't Suck is a seriously researched, fact-driven podcast examining the dreams, machinery, and real-world impact behind American government, one episode at a time.