Bretton Alexander
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Oral Histories
The interviews in this collection were selected from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Oral History Program, which contains interviews with aerospace legends, analyses of key events, aerospace chronologies, and more. The interviews included here are those that relate specifically to NOAA's mission.
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Bretton Alexander is a prominent figure in the commercial space industry. He began his career at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as a Senior Policy Analyst for Space Issues, covering NASA, NOAA, and some national security space activities from May 2000 to January 2005. During this time, he was one of the primary authors of the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) announced by President George W. Bush in 2004. The VSE emphasized NASA's return to exploration beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO), leaving LEO to both international and commercial activities. Following his tenure at the White House, Alexander joined Transformational Space Corp., or t/Space, a company formed to respond to NASA's Concept Exploration and Refinement (CE&R) contracts. t/Space was awarded one of the $3 million contracts to propose an architecture for returning to the Moon. Alexander is also the former president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, which started as the Personal Spaceflight Federation in the 2005 to 2006 timeframe. The federation was initially more suborbital-focused, with companies like Virgin Galactic, the X Prize Foundation, Scaled Composites, XCOR, and Armadillo Aerospace aiming to facilitate human spaceflight. Currently, Alexander serves as the Director of Business Development for Strategy at Blue Origin LLC.
Scope and Content Note
This interview with Bretton Alexander, conducted on March 18, 2013, provides a comprehensive overview of his involvement in commercial space activities and his perspective on the evolution of the industry. Alexander discusses his role at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he contributed to the development of the Vision for Space Exploration. He also shares insights into the Columbia accident and its impact on space policy. Alexander discusses the transition of low-Earth orbit activities to the private sector and the challenges faced by NASA in this regard. He also shares his views on the lack of political consensus and leadership affecting NASA's direction. The interview also covers Alexander's involvement with the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and its evolution from a suborbital focus to include orbital systems. He also discusses his time at t/Space, a company that won a NASA contract to propose a lunar mission architecture. Alexander's reflections provide valuable insights into the dynamics of the commercial space industry, the role of government in space exploration, and the future of commercial spaceflight. He also provides a unique perspective on the development and implementation of the Vision for Space Exploration and its impact on the commercial space industry. The interview concludes with Alexander's current role at Blue Origin LLC and his thoughts on the future of the company and the commercial space industry as a whole. His insights provide a valuable perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing the commercial space industry and the role of government in facilitating its growth.
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