ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the history of the US space programme. It discusses how National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has gradually moved towards higher involvement with commercial space, following government policy that has been fostering this direction. The chapter outlines how the space race has spurred investment in space technology. It also discusses NASA's creation, and its ethos and organization, before noting environmental and regulatory changes that have resulted in increased bureaucracy and inertia. The chapter focuses on the "faster, better, cheaper" approach tried to shake up the agency with mixed results. Funding and policy uncertainty, combined with critiques of NASA's performance were the backdrop for the emergence of commercial space. It also discusses the NASA has developed its own capabilities over time as state actor in collaborating with commercial space more effectively; and how commercial space is changing the shape of industry from hierarchical one dominated by NASA, to a network one where NASA is orchestrator and influencer.
