In our previous assessment of this promise, we ruled that the administration had already kept its promise to stimulate the commercial use of space (through a $50 million provision in the economic stimulus bill) and "private-sector utilization of the International Space Station" (through a request for scientific projects that could be performed on the space station). The one aspect of Obama's campaign pledge that held it back from a rating of Promise Kept was the promise to "establish new processes and procurement goals to promote the use of government facilities."

The wording of this part of the promise is a bit vague, but we belive that the release of his fiscal year 2011 budget goes a long way toward satisfying this part of the promise by proposing a landmark shift toward the commercial space sector.

First, some background. After the retirement of the space shuttle in 2010 or 2011, the United States will face a gap in its ability to carry crews (and possibly cargo) to the International Space Station. In the short term, the United States is planning to contract with Russia to carry its astronauts to the space station. In the longer term, the United States had been relying on a next-generation system known as Constellation.

However, the president's budget proposes canceling Constellation after having spent $9 billion on it. "NASA's Constellation program ... was over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation due to a failure to invest in critical new technologies," the administration said in its proposed budget.

In its place, the budget advocates encouraging commercial solutions to the challenge of ferrying crews into orbit.

Already, two private spaceflight companies, Orbital and SpaceX, are under contract to deliver cargo -- though not crews -- via rockets to the space station once the space shuttle has ended its operations. The president's budget proposes that they, or similar companies, also get into the crew-carrying business.

"Building off successful progress in the development of commercial cargo capabilities, the budget invests $6 billion over five years to spur the development of American commercial human spaceflight vehicles," the proposed budget said, adding that NASA "will allocate these funds through competitive solicitations." NASA, the budget emphasized, "will ensure that all systems meet the agency's stringent human-rating requirements."

Separately, the budget would provide $312 million in fiscal year 2011 for "additional incentives for NASA's current domestic commercial cargo service providers."

Skeptics have called the administration's proposal a risky one. If the eventual goal is for the United States to be self-reliant for carrying astronauts into orbit, canceling Constellation puts all of NASA's eggs into one untested basket of commercial spaceflight providers.

While the administration has concluded that it's worth taking that risk in the hope of reducing the cost of human spaceflight in order to make human spaceflight financially viable in the long run, there's no guarantee that the president's proposal will win the day. The forces supporting Constellation are substantial. They include lawmakers from Alabama, Florida and Texas, the states most deeply involved in Constellation; these lawmakers possess influence in Congress, which must agree to the changes Obama envisions for NASA.

Still, space experts say the push to commercialize seems almost unstoppable. On a separate track, the Federal Aviation Administration is working to establish a new Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation next year. The agency would fund the center at $1 million per year year, with additional funds coming from the host institution. A public meeting was held on Feb. 9 with interested parties to discuss the effort. And Edward Ellegood, space policy analyst at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said that the Pentagon is also "taking new steps to utilize and support the commercial launch industry."

It's true that vested interests in Congress could pose obstacles for space commercialization. But we think the administration is doing enough on multiple tracks to earn this a Promise Kept.