Government R&D Programs for Commercializing Space
研究了美国联邦政府自1950年代末支持的两个太空商业化项目（通信卫星和航天飞机），分析其采用、实施、绩效和最终命运，对理解政府科技政策与商业目标的关系有参考价值。
Beginning in the late 1950's, the federal government has supported several programs to develop commercial uses of space. Early on, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) supported the development of several generations of communications satellites. In the 1970's, NASA developed the Space Shuttle which, although officially declared operational, still consumed much of NASA's budget in the 1980's. These projects exemplify a class of programs in which the government seeks to advance technology to serve specific commercial objectives. NASA may regard exploring and using space as a valid national goal, but both of these projects were justified externally on economic grounds-both would reduce costs of existing activities, and make possible new commercial activities. The two programs met different fates. The communications satellite program, after producing several important commercial advances, was killed in 1973. The Space Shuttle, despite cost overruns and performance underruns, survived political challenges and appears to be permanent. The purpose of this paper is to apply recent developments in the theory of policy decisions by elected officials to illuminate the adoption, implementation, performance, and ultimate fate of these programs.