When it comes to America’s direction in space, the direction Vice President Kamala Harris has set during the Biden administration is less about boldly going where no one has gone before and more like Captain Kirk on “Star Trek.” It was like when I gave the command, “Proceed steadily.” ”
Vice presidents have historically been seen as having many limits to their political power, but President Biden has appointed Harris to lead the National Space Council, the agency that coordinates space policy across the federal government.
And while much of American politics is fracturing along red-blue fault lines, space in general, and NASA in particular, remains an arena that has been able to escape the fray. It continues to garner bipartisan support and public support.
The Biden administration has largely maintained the course set during the Trump administration. NASA is still working to send astronauts back to the moon. The Space Force has become an established branch of the military. SpaceX remains a domineering force in government spaceflight, despite owner Elon Musk’s insistence on a second Trump presidency.
One sign of continuity in space policy is that Biden has even established a Space Council. Over the past 50 years, Presidents George H.W. Bush, Donald J. Trump, and Biden have considered space issues important enough to warrant a White House-level agency to address them. There were only three people.
Although Harris hasn’t made a major shift, she has brought personal touches to U.S. space policy, including a greater emphasis on international diplomacy and an emphasis on how space technology can be used to improve life on Earth. is added.
Some space industry representatives who worked with Harris on the Space Council praised her efforts. At the same time, other outside observers are not enthusiastic about what she has done.
Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, said he was “neutral to somewhat negative” about Harris’ leadership. “Under the Harris administration, it’s a different kind of council.”
Mike Pence visits the Johnson Space Center in Houston with astronaut Suni Williams (right) in 2018. Credit…David J. Phillip/Associated Press
When President Trump re-established the Council on Space in 2017, he put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of it. Pence has been eager to implement the Trump administration’s revised space priorities, holding eight public meetings filled with pomp and atmosphere and announcing a comprehensive set of “space policy directives.” The first called for the United States to send astronauts back to the moon. The other set the stage for the creation of the Space Force.
For the past three and a half years, Harris’s Space Council has been more modest, holding only one public meeting a year. No new space policy directives have been issued.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Harrison said the Biden administration “could have rolled back many of these changes,” but kept them because “objectively it was the smart thing to do.”
The direction of U.S. space exploration often shifts after an election as a new president seeks to put his personal stamp on NASA or truncate the outgoing president’s fantasies. The U-turn wasted funds on canceled programs and left NASA at a loss.
“The broad contours remain fairly consistent,” said Jamie Morin, executive director of the Center for Space Policy and Strategy at the Aerospace Corporation, a nonprofit that advises the federal government.
Mandy Bourne, chief executive officer of space industry consulting firm GXO and a member of the Space Council’s user advisory group, said the council focuses on less visible work that is hidden from public view. said.
“There’s been a lot of effort to say, ‘Okay, how can we actually implement this?'” Vaughn said. “In recent years, we have focused solely on policy implementation.”
In the past 50 years, only three presidents have convened a space council: George H.W. Bush, Donald J. Trump, and Joseph R. Biden Jr., and President Biden’s space policy was set by the Trump administration. It has largely inherited the same policies as before. .Doug Mills/New York Times
Retired Air Force Gen. Lester Lyles, who heads the advisory group, said the 2022 diplomacy would require countries to commit not to test anti-satellite weapons that could endanger the International Space Station and other orbiters. Mr. Harris also played a key role in promoting this goal. The United States was the first to make that commitment, and more than 30 countries have followed suit.
“That was her cue,” General Lyles said.
Harrison noted that major countries with satellite-destroying capabilities – Russia, China and India – have refused to support the measure.
Another diplomatic push was the Artemis Accords, which set out the U.S. interpretation of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which included allowing extraction of space resources on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Trump administration launched the Artemis Accords, which had been signed by nine countries including the United States by the end of 2020. Under the Biden administration, the number of signatories has jumped to 47, with Cyprus and Chile the most recent two countries signing last week.
Reflecting Ms Harris’ priorities of promoting science, mathematics and technical education, the project aims to raise public awareness of the practical uses of space and attract more students into aerospace careers. We have announced the Space4All campaign.
“When you look at this, there’s a lot of meat in there,” Vaughn said. “This part of the workforce is an area of great passion for her.”
Where will the United States go in space over the next four years? Harris has said little about the topic during her campaign.
“I don’t think space will be at the top of her list of issues,” Harrison said. “I didn’t think that applied to any president.”
2022 Artemis I Space Launch System Test. Some experts doubt whether NASA will be able to send astronauts to the moon by the end of the decade. Credit…Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
But experts say whoever is the next president will need to adjust the government’s plans to return astronauts to the moon. All major components of that program are years behind schedule. Some experts doubt whether NASA can succeed before the end of the decade when China aims to land astronauts.
On the campaign trail, including at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, this month, Mr. Trump stood next to Mr. Musk and promised that the United States would “reach Mars” by the end of his second term. That could signal a major shift in space policy established during Trump’s first term. But achieving Mr. Musk’s full Mars ambitions will be much more difficult than sticking to NASA’s current course to the moon.
Regardless of the direction space policy takes in 2025, the next president may decide that a National Space Council is not needed because federal efforts will be effectively coordinated by other agencies.
“I can make a case for why you absolutely want to keep it,” said Mark Albrecht, who served as executive director of the Council on Space during President George H.W. Bush. “You could argue that it’s not necessary.”
People like Harrison argue that space issues are now more important and complex. The Space Council, headed by the vice president, “gives us influence within the government that we wouldn’t otherwise have,” he said.
