The results of the second annual America’s SpacePoll are in and the winners are space exploration, NASA, satellite communications and space science and research initiatives. Even though pioneering space efforts within these specific areas either hit significant obstacles or failed altogether recently, U.S. voters remain optimistic and supportive of future space endeavors.

While recognizing the importance of space exploration, however, U.S. citizens want industry leaders to make more breakthroughs. That means that industry executives may want to craft business plans that yield results having a direct impact on everyday life, specifically in the areas of health, the environment, communications and education.

These were the main findings stemming from the survey that polled 1,000 registered voters last month.

“The results confirm that American’s believe strongly in the importance of space exploration and want to continue to see the it improve their daily lives,” said Bill Knudsen, president of the U.S. Space Foundation.

Even though two high-profile space exploration failures stunted recent NASA projects, the silver lining in these clouds may be the heightened public awareness of NASA’s importance in yielding space-based initiatives for everyday life. Although the study showed the majority polled believe NASA funding should stay the same, as did the 1999 results, the percentage of voters that feel the Federal Government’s budget should increase rose 10 percent from 32.5 percent to 43.1 percent over last year.

Mirroring the 1999 results, the survey revealed that a majority of the public polled believe the United States should develop a National Missile Defense System. According to the study, 89.8 percent believe it is “important” to use its space capabilities to protect the country against a missile attack and 65.5 percent feel such initiatives are “very important.”

…Voters Have Spoken; Space May Play A Significant Role In The November 2000 Elections

Voters heading to the polls this year may have space on their minds as a deciding factor as to which lever to pull when casting their ballots. Therefore, the political candidate elected who will help foster national economic growth for at least the next four years may be more space savvy than his competitor.

The study indicated that 53.3 percent of the voters believe the space industry is a major part of the national economy. Likewise, 57.4 percent of the voters say a candidate’s position on space-related issues is “important,” with 15.9 percent saying it is “very important.”

Furthermore, 64.2 percent of men 35 years old or older say a presidential candidate’s position on space-related issues is “important” to them when they are making a decision on whom to vote for, compared to 47.3 percent of women under 35 years old.

In addition, close to 59.2 percent of voters polled said they would be “more likely” to vote for a presidential candidate who supports the completion of the International Space Station. Broken down between the two major parties, this year’s poll indicated that 63.3 percent of registered Democrats and 60.3 percent of registered Republican voters would “more likely” vote for a candidate who supports the completion of the ISS.

Study results indicate a slight favorable increase in ISS completion from the 1999 results. The number jumped from 57 percent to 63.6 percent.

…Space-based Businesses Driving The Market Rank Low On Voter’s Minds

Surprisingly, what is currently driving revenue and what is projected to yield future revenue ranked low on voter’s lists. According to the study, only 28.1 percent of voters said global communications is the service that comes to mind first when thinking about commercialization efforts in space; only 19 percent said satellite television; 18.5 percent said weather prediction; and a mere 9.4 percent said high speed Internet.

In fact, most voters singled out five specific areas for further space development: protecting the environment, medical research, global communications, education and improving agriculture.

Commissioned by the Space Foundation’s Space Awareness Initiative, the survey was conducted by Shandwick World Research and has a three percent margin of error.