Duncan Hunter: “Where are we in relation to other countries, Dr. Nield? Are any other countries further along in this area than we are?”

The 2013 National Space Transportation Policy calls for the use of U.S. rockets for U.S. government payloads, with some minor exceptions that perhaps should be revisited anyway.

The U.S. currently has a competitive space launch industry, yet NASA payloads continue to fly on foreign launch vehicles.

I would hope there is crossover. All the lessons learned and the billions of dollars spent in Afghanistan over the last decade, the people that have been doing that there transferring their knowledge and capability to you.

How can you possibly stay on track with that kind of a cut?