alb@alice.UUCP (Adam L. Buchsbaum) (08/02/85)
President Reagan has ordered that NASA, beginning in fiscal 1988, auction cargo space on the shuttle to foreign and commercial customers. The minimum bid on a full payload bay would be $74M; a shuttle flight costs $71M. Three shuttle equivalent payloads (1 SEP == 1 full payload bay) are to be sold per year, and NASA is then allowed to sell any remaining space.