The White House is launching a political counterattack to fend off escalating congressional criticism of its proposals to outsource U.S. manned space missions to private industry.

Facing bipartisan opposition on Capitol Hill and lacking prominent champions of such unprecedented space ventures among most large aerospace contractors, the administration hopes to regain momentum on the issue with a personal appeal from President Barack Obama.

The White House said the president would outline his plans for space exploration at a conference in Florida on April 15. The event will give him a forum to defend his proposed cancellation of existing National Aeronautics and Space Administration projects intended to take astronauts back to the moon and deeper into the solar system.

The bid to outsource many of NASA's current manned exploration programs has sparked opposition partly because of the job losses critics say it would entail.

State and local officials in Florida, an important swing state for the 2010 and 2012 federal elections, have projected more than 9,000 job losses statewide from the proposed program cancellations, combined with the planned retirement of the space-shuttle fleet by early 2011.