Commercial Space Report Archive

Many new adherents to the burgeoning commercial space community have little or no idea of what came before the success of SpaceX. Many entrepreneurs, advocates, companies, and efforts were born, struggled and expired before non-government launches burst upon the world. This new archive of the Space Studies Institute is meant to record for posterity at least some of those efforts. I'm certain my fellow former SSI Presidents Gerry O'Neill and Freeman Dyson would agree that we all need to be reminded of the past as we step smartly into the future.

Gary C Hudson, Space Studies Institute President Emeritus
Redwood City, CA
January 2026

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The name Gary Hudson is legendary in the Space Industry. For decades his has been the name to drop in discussions of real-world rocketry not only for the nitty-gritty details of pressure vessels and propellants but also - and even Moreso - for his uncompromising focus on low, lower and lowest cost commercially developed access to space.

Today, with SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab and others, this seems an obvious option. But when Gary started his career in the 1970's it was almost heresy. The overwhelming belief was that only governments could ever make space accessible. It was Gary and his small band of like-minded professionals who set out to change perceptions with the 1971 incorporation of The Foundation Institute.

For years this group did the research and then in 1977 they started putting it out to the world in monthly printed newsletters, at first called "The Foundation Report" and then "The Commercial Space Report."

Now, thanks to the work of C.S.R. co-publisher Tom A. Brosz, the Space Studies Institute is very proud to present the complete, 100% free access to every issue of the fascinating and still very useful resource. Launchers, Economics, Settlements, Space-Based Solar Power... the Hows - and the Whys - behind the birth of today's Commercial Spaceflight.

We suggest you start at the beginning and watch the story unfold. It is truly quite amazing.

From the Space Studies Institute and SSI President Emeritus Gary C Hudson, Enjoy!