Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, who flew to space four times over a 15-year career as an astronaut, praised the growth of the industry and gave a rallying cry for intensified competition.
"Some of the advancements are truly stunning; this has been a great success," Kelly said, speaking at a luncheon during the Commercial Space Transportation conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
Kelly noted that the cost of sending satellites, people and cargo to orbit is currently "a fraction" of what it was when he flew on NASA's Space Shuttle.
He added that — while the industry's growth is encouraging — companies building rockets need "to step up to the plate" and bring more "new launch vehicles to market faster and embrace renewed competition, not stifle it."
"We need more launch vehicles to continue to reduce the costs associated with getting a payload to orbit," Kelly said.