"We have set a clear goal vital to the next chapter of America's story in space: sending humans to Mars by the 2030s and returning them safely to Earth, with the ultimate ambition to one day remain there for an extended time," Obama said in an op-ed in CNN.
"Getting to Mars will require continued cooperation between government and private innovators, and we're already well on our way. Within the next two years, private companies will for the first time send astronauts to the International Space Station," he said as he laid out plans for his ambitious goal.
Just five years ago, US companies were shut out of the global commercial launch market. Today, they own more than a third of it.
More than 1,000 companies across nearly all 50 states are working on private space initiatives, he noted.
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Meanwhile, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in another op-ed said NASA has already begun laying the groundwork for these deep space missions.
"In 2014 we issued a 'broad agency announcement' or 'BAA' asking private partners for concept studies and development projects in advanced propulsion, small satellites, and habitation as part of the newly created Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships or 'NextSTEP' programme," he said.
The idea is that these habitats or 'habs' would evolve into spacecraft capable of sustaining and transporting astronauts on long duration deep space missions, like a mission to Mars.
"And their development would be achieved through new public-private partnerships designed to build on and support the progress of the growing commercial space sector in Earth orbit," Boldon said.
"The work done by those companies was so promising that earlier this year, we extended the NextSTEP hab program into Phase 2 and opened it up to new entrants. In August, six companies were selected to produce ground prototypes for deep space habitat modules," he said.