Bruce Pittman

“The commercial space industry owes a huge debt to Patti Grace Smith. There might not be a commercial spaceflight industry were it not for Patti's leadership.”

“Spend 10% of the project budget making sure you understand problem, the key technologies involved, and have looked at all of the options before you dive into the detailed design.”

“Keep the team as small as possible. Having been on several of these mega-projects, they seem to grow magically. People are attracted to the project like moths to a flame.”

“The National Space Society is proud to have EIS as our flagship spaceflight program, and we look forward to the remarkable results that will flow from its successful completion.”

“If you have a Falcon Heavy, and you have a Dragon, and you have a Bigelow module, then all of a sudden, life gets interesting.”

“If there's going to be the development of a commercial space economy, whatever it is, shouldn't you do your exploration to prepare a path for what's going to come next?”

“The key here is that with planning, you can take advantage of opportunities, where without this planning, you may just watch them pass you by. Like knowing that a key potential customer may be at a conference and putting together a pitch just in case you run into them - or being caught by surprise with nothing coherent to say.”

“Competition like that seen between Blue Origin and SpaceX is key to rapid progress in space.”

“NASA is a big organization with a lot of needs that have to be met. So there are a lot of opportunities.”

“The Enterprise In Space program is an exciting opportunity to simultaneously advance cutting edge technologies while getting students from around the world engaged in STEAM and space education.”

“Keeping the risk management plan up to date can transform it from a door stop into a vital project management tool. Remember: what you don't know can kill your project.”

“NSS is pleased that VP Pence has provided a strong endorsement for public-private partnerships in space.”

“NSS has strongly supported competition in both the NASA Commercial Re-supply Services program and the Commercial Crew program.”

“We look forward with great anticipation to see the course that the National Space Council charts for America's future in space.”

“Don't bring on the design engineers too soon. One of the worst things you can do in the early phases of a project is to bring on a bunch of detailed design engineers and then not give them clear direction and close supervision.”

“Don't start vast projects with half-vast resources.”

“You see this swirl of ideas and interaction of different players. Those interactions are helping to increase the pace of commercial space activity. We are bringing the pace of Silicon Valley to the space program.”

“Blue Origin's successful capsule escape demonstration represents a material step toward a fully re-usable sub-orbital vehicle.”

“NSS is delighted to support the New Horizons mission by helping to share this exciting milestone in space exploration with the general public in America and around the world.”

“Get the entire team involved in identifying and evaluating project risks. Everyone looks at the project differently, and sometimes the input from the student intern can be vital.”