The commercial space industry has seen growth over the past two decades. Much of this can be attributed to the emergence of new private companies aiming to provide affordable and reliable access to space. At the forefront of enabling this new era of commercial space activity is the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF).
Established in 2006, the CSF serves as the industry association and leading voice for companies working to make commercial human spaceflight a widespread reality. Its mission is to promote the development of the commercial space industry, pursue ever higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the sector. The CSF’s over 80 member organizations include commercial spaceflight developers, operators, spaceports, suppliers, and service providers.
The federation and its members have been instrumental in laying the foundations for a growing new space economy. This refers to the expanding private space industry and commercial utilization of space. CSF members are responsible for creating thousands of high-tech jobs in the aerospace sector, driven by billions of dollars in private capital investment. They are guiding the expansion of Earth’s economic sphere into outer space while reinforcing American leadership in space.
Democratizing Access to Space
A major way in which the CSF is helping build the new space economy is by democratizing access to space. Historically, access to space has been limited to nation states and select government-funded programs. But new innovations in reusable launch vehicles and small satellites by CSF members like SpaceX, Rocket Lab, and are slashing costs. This is allowing more countries, companies, research institutions and even individuals to regularly launch payloads into orbit.
The federation has also been a leading advocate for streamlining regulations to facilitate greater private sector participation. It has worked closely with government agencies like the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation and NASA to help create a more welcoming regulatory environment. CSF involvement has advanced the passage of legislation like the SPACE Act of 2015, which established guidelines for commercial utilization of resources mined from asteroids and other celestial bodies.
Enabling New Markets
In addition to supporting technological breakthroughs that lower barriers to space access, the CSF is actively trying to stimulate demand for commercial space services. This includes encouraging the development of new markets for commercial human spaceflight, microgravity research, remote sensing, space tourism and more.
The organization frequently engages with industry leaders, investors and policymakers to promote awareness of the socioeconomic benefits enabled by commercial space activities. It highlights case studies of how innovations by member companies are already yielding tangible improvements in areas like weather forecasting, climate change monitoring, and telecommunications.
To inspire future generations to pursue careers in this high-growth sector, the CSF also works closely with academic institutions. Its University Affiliates Program allows universities like MIT, Purdue and Stanford to collaborate with commercial space companies on cutting-edge research projects. This provides students with valuable hands-on experience while generating insights that members can incorporate into new products and services.
Thought Leadership
In addition to its advocacy and partnership-building efforts, the CSF serves as a prominent thought leader on issues related to the commercial space industry. It publishes reports and white papers analyzing important topics like national security space policy, export control reform, spectrum allocation and orbital debris mitigation.
The organization also provides critical perspectives to Congress and government agencies on how legislation and rule-making might impact commercial space activity. Senior CSF representatives have testified before House and Senate committees on subjects ranging from continuing ISS operations to streamlining launch and reentry licensing.
By aggregating and channeling the views of its broad membership, the CSF gives private space companies an influential collective voice in policy debates. This allows the commercial space industry to better inform government decision-making in a way that balances public sector priorities with the interests of private enterprise.
The Future of Commercial Space
The CSF and its members have made great strides in catalyzing the growth of commercial space activity over the past 15+ years. But much work remains to build a robust and self-sustaining space economy.
Continued cost reductions will be necessary to attract more customers and enable new use cases for commercial space services. And the industry still faces daunting technical challenges—from perfecting reusable launch vehicles to developing orbital logistics networks for refueling and repairing satellites.
