NASA has announced a series of new cash prizes for companies that are able to introduce new space systems that meet the agency's specification. Like the popular X Prize that led to the creation of several private spaceship firms and the successful flight of Bert Rutan's SpaceShipOne, these new awards are designed to encourage the development of new space systems developed without the red tape and overhead of government research.
Among the new technology that NASA seeks is cheaper space suits, small reentry vehicles, lunar vehicles, and power generators that can produce power for the 14 day lunar night. But one of the most interesting requests is for new orbital fueling stations that would be able to fuel spacecraft going to and from the moon.
NASA has finally figured out, perhaps, that it can more done, quicker and faster, by leveraging the private sector. Outsourcing research, development, and production also creates new private sector jobs, and lets more states and regions get a toehold in the Space Economy. In the past, Florida and Texas have had a lock on space work.