Few entrepreneurs have succeeded in achieving the full potential of commercial space. In the wake of the Mars mission and Iridium LLC failures, industry pioneers have realized the right combination of technologies, applications, markets and financing must be established for viable commercial enterprise success.

“My 35-plus years of experience and my own gut feeling tells me [recent failures] occurred because we forgot the recipe for success,” said Dan Goldin, NASA administrator during his keynote address at the Global Air and Space 2000 Forum and Exhibition organized by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and sponsored by Raytheon Co. [RTN].

“And when there is a failure, we should not take it personally–not to the point that we become discouraged and give up…but to the point were NASA and the aerospace industry recommits themselves in making success happen,” Goldin said.

Industry leaders concur with Goldin in focusing initiatives back on a successful track but also site significant challenges that first must be overcome.

“Commercial space development is in transition and entrepreneurs must be able to focus funds to missions and not on the transportation,” said Edward O’Connor, executive director of the Spaceport Florida Authority. “We need to take the non-space science out of space so as to free up capital for new systems to flourish.”

Robert Berry, chairman of Space Systems/Loral [LOR], added that the industry must maintain a broad perspective, making technology a main focus. “Our government should be taking science and converting it to technology so all can benefit.”

While U.S. industry struggles to balance civil and commercial needs, European industry leaders combat regulatory and marketing obstacles. “Building confidence and implementing the right marketing approach are our biggest challenges,” said Armand Carlier, CEO of Astrium, which formally launched operations April 17 (SBN, March 29). “In addition, we are clearly ready to deal with Americans, but the technology issue must be resolved.”