You see, three weeks ago I, along with several hundred other co-workers, was laid-off. My editor and I agreed from the beginning that my employer should remain anonymous, but I will say that it was a major contractor for NASA, working on both the Space Shuttle and Ares programs. With the shuttle program shutting down and the lack of funding for Constellation/Ares, the reasons behind lay-offs are clear. Lay-offs like this are plaguing the industry and will most likely continue due to the recent announcement that the current administration will no longer support funding for the Constellation program.

I ask that your thoughts go out to these people and their families, as they face difficult times ahead of them.

Despite the sad faces I’ve seen, and the angry words angled at the government, I must take an unpopular stand by saying that these lay-offs and the canceling of Constellation could be the greatest thing in 20 years to happen to the American space program.

Nearly every watcher of the aerospace industry saw this day coming since the early 90’s. NASA has aborted every new space vehicle it attempted to build; also NASA and its contractors have lost many good and experienced people to old age, and poor funding. Private launch companies like Boeing and Lockheed are relying on technology from the late 70’s and early 80’s to support what’s left of our space program. Overseas, foreign powers are beginning to develop space programs of their own, fueled by new economic growth, national pride, and a willingness to take risks.

Post-Challenger, this country lost that willingness to take risks. We believe that space travel should not take place if it can not be done safely. This belief manifested itself like a deformed limb, twisting and crippling our once strong hold on space. Like any limb which has grown improperly it must be broken and reset. This is a painful process, one filled with agony and a long period of rehabilitation. However it must be done if the limb is ever to be useful again.

These lay-offs and the cancellation of Constellation are (hopefully) the breaking and resetting of our space industry. It will be difficult as I and my coworkers are finding out, but it must happen for a brighter future. Despite these difficulties, I believe this is a time for hope and optimism.

One only needs to look as far as Space X, Virgin Galactic, Bigelow Aerospace, Blue Planet, and Blue Origin to see that private spaceflight has been a whisper away for nearly a decade. The technology exists, the experience exists, the drive and passion exists, and now hopefully the money will exist too.

Like the airplane at the turn of the century, it wasn’t until the government was ready to give out high-paying contracts to deliver mail that the private industry really took off (no pun intended). While passenger transport was only for the upper class, it spread to nearly all classes in just a few decades. Now it’s the rockets turn to hopefully follow the same path.

With the oppressive overhead of government control moving aside and the promise of lucrative contracts coming, the time is fast approaching for space travel to be open to the private citizen. The industry has the talent, the experience, and now the opportunity. Getting laid-off was hard, and even harder for others I know. But it is a price that must be paid if we want to get our space industry on track, and it’s one I pay gladly.