The NAI program should enable NASA and DOD to continue leading efforts in three critical aerospace areas -- high-speed hypersonic flight, access to space, and space technology -- but the program has many technical and financial hurdles, said the committee that wrote the report.

"This initiative is certainly worthwhile, but some of the challenges it faces are formidable," said committee chair Edsel Dunford, past president and chief operating officer of TRW Inc. "In particular, sharply higher budgets will be required to achieve long-term objectives, which could significantly impact other programs of DOD and NASA."

The committee noted that it could not determine current or planned levels of funding for NAI with any degree of certainty. Presentations made to the committee by DOD and NASA representatives provided only limited financial information on two long-term research areas -- high-speed hypersonic flight and space access. Therefore, the committee drew on its expertise to create a plan for technical aspects of the initiative and to estimate costs.

NAI's high-speed hypersonic flight research aims to develop jet-like vehicles that can fly at Mach 12 -- 12 times the speed of sound -- by around 2014. These high-speed vehicles may be technically feasible in that time frame, but a more comprehensive plan to undertake all required activities, from fundamental research to critical technology development to flight demonstration, needs to be pursued, the committee said.

NAI's effort to develop new rocket propulsion systems should dramatically increase access to space while decreasing costs, the report says. Also, NAI's phased funding approach to this research is expected to result in significant payoffs -- such as more frequent flights, high numbers of test flights, and low marginal cost per flight -- between 2008 and 2015. However, the payoffs will probably not be available by 2008, as suggested by NAI, the committee said.

To ensure an adequate work force, NAI should establish a stable and predictable source of funding to help mitigate the aerospace industry's cyclic hirings and layoffs, and to foster the creation of stable and career-oriented jobs, the report says.

DOD and NASA should strive to level the increases and decreases in the amount of funding available, and boost their funding to allow students, faculty, government researchers, and industry leaders to perform long-term research on reusable launch vehicles and aerospace propulsion and power, the committee said.

DOD and NASA should develop a top-down comprehensive road map that clearly defines the objectives, challenges, technologies, research, and funding required to implement the report's recommendations and achieve NAI goals, the committee said. The plan should be communicated clearly to decision-makers and stakeholders, including the public, the committee added. Independent groups of experts should review the plan on a regular basis.

"The technical and financial feasibility of NAI are intertwined," Dunford said. "The objectives of NAI cannot be achieved without the financial resources required for research and development. DOD and NASA cannot substantially achieve NAI objectives unless they are willing to fund it along with other ongoing research and technology efforts."

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