U.S. Spaceflight: Commercial Versus Federal

U.S. Spaceflight: Commercial Versus Federal: Digging Trenches And Making Tar Pits On January 18, 2006 NASA announced the COTS program. COTS stands for Commercial Orbital Transportation Services and is rooted in the concept that private companies can provide a means of supplying cargo and later crews to the International Space Station (ISS) in light of NASA's thinning budget.