The nascent company – incorporated just last month – has pledged $100 million to the effort, which will include a space-theme portal on the internet, digitization of NASA’s mammoth archives and documentary and educational programming, executives said.
"If there can be a fishing channel, I’m sure there can be support for a space channel," said Sunny Kalara, Dreamtime’s chief counsel.
The company will also pony up HDTV equipment on Earth and in orbit for NASA’s use.
U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-California), who serves as chairman of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, praised the deal.
"We have been pushing in Congress to establish a policy that would encourage the investment of private money in the American space effort," Rohrabacher told SPACE.com. "This is beyond what we could have imagined."
But critics of the venture questioned how much this deal benefits the commercial space effort, saying that NASA choice of one company doesn’t encourage a competitive marketplace.
"Why pick one company?" said Jim Muncy, founder of PoliSpace, an independent space policy firm in Alexandria, Virginia. "Is the space station run by free enterprise or socialist rules?"
"I think we are walking down a very perilous road when we allow the federal government to begin to take on the persona of a full-fledge business," said Courtney Stadd, president of Pixsell, a web-based, space-data management company based in Mississippi.
Under a measure approved last fall, NASA can negotiate with private companies for a share of the profits from commercial space partnerships.
Sources close to the negotiations said that Dreamtime had originally proposed giving NASA a stake in the company. But the Office of Management and Budget put up a red flag, saying that a federal agency backed by taxpayer money should not be able to own a stake in a private enterprise.
Still, NASA could end up cashing in down the road when Dreamtime plans an initial public offering in the next few years.
The issue of NASA benefiting financially from the venture is likely to be addressed in the future as the plans for the deal roll out.
"At some point, Congress is going to take a look at that and ask how much money are they making," Muncy said.
Defenders of the First Amendment are worried that having one multimedia company involved in the deal may result in NASA playing a role in deciding what the public does and doesn't get to see.
One point in the contract that is particularly worrisome to critics is NASA’s "guaranteed right to preempt" Dreamtime at any time.
"Someone needs to remind NASA that the First Amendment can’t be privatized," said Paul McMasters of the Freedom Forum, a nonprofit organization in Arlington, Virginia dedicated to free press and free speech
The First Amendment comes into play when a government entity engages in the management or censorship of news.
Dreamtime hopes to make money on its investment by producing documentaries, advertising on its space internet portal and through "micro-payments" – nominal fees it will charge consumers to order high-definition copies of images from NASA’s archives. Lower resolution images will continue to be free.
"I don’t think there is a better brand out there to be affiliated with than this one," said Carleton Ruthling, Dreamtime’s president and chief operating officer.
Chief NASA spokeswoman Peggy Wilhide said access to NASA imagery – which is in the public domain – would remain unfettered.
"You’ll get more than there was before," Wilhide said. "Dreamtime is not hung up on exclusivity at all." However, according to the 49-page agreement, some Dreamtime-produced images will not be available for public release for up to five years.
NASA is gambling the deal will not only boost its public profile, but perhaps make it money as well.
Although it will not have an equity stake in the company it will share in what Dreamtime CEO Bill Foster called its "upside." Under the terms of the deal, approximately 25 percent of the company’s shares will be set aside for NASA. Although NASA will not own the shares, any increase in their value will flow to the American space agency, Foster said.
"That will allow NASA to share in the value of any gain of the equity," Foster said. In addition, 5 percent of the company’s equity will be set aside for yet-to-be-chosen nonprofit groups.
The company, which intends to grow from five to 80 employees, will be headquartered at Ames. Its website,
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