The US government has created its first aeronautics research and development policy, designed to co-ordinate federal research up to 2020. Officials at the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OST), the programme administrator, say the effort is similar to, but more comprehensive than, Europe's strategic research agenda for aeronautics, writes John Croft.
President George Bush on 20 December signed an order setting up the policy and mandating budget and reporting requirements for its execution.
The policy was created by government and academia, including the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA, the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation. John Douglass, president of the US Aerospace Industries Association, says the new policy "will be hollow if the recent trend of declining NASA aeronautics budgets continues". he adds. The White House's next proposed budget will come out in February.
Source: Flight International