BLUF: A New Space Race
Compared to his ‘American Carnage’ address eight years ago, President Donald Trump’s inauguration remarks under the Capitol Rotunda on Monday struck a far more optimistic, triumphalist, and emboldened tone. Taking a page from JFK, Trump boldly announced his ambition to see an astronaut plant the stars and stripes on the surface of Mars—much to the delight of Elon Musk.
While the details of Trump’s plan to reach the red planet remain fuzzy, it does beg the question: how will the new administration approach the promise (and perils) of space? We know that, in his first term, Trump extensively expanded the nation’s security and economic focus on space, signing several Space Policy Directives (SPDs) designed to foster a robust American space industry. He also established a new armed service branch, the United States Space Force. His approach to space in the first term, combined with Monday’s announcement, would suggest that the returning President will make decisive forward progress in U.S. space endeavors.
The timing of this ‘Marshoot’ doesn't come from nowhere. As geopolitical competition continues to heat up here on the ground, our adversaries have been quick to look towards the skies to help secure advantage. A report from CNN last year claimed that Russia was developing a nuclear space system designed to disable American commercial and military satellites, and China has taken a page from Trump's playbook by establishing the only other independent Space Force in the world back in April.
A new space race shouldn't be derided. The United States boasts the largest and most advanced space industry in the world and taking advantage of this will be consequential in addressing a new era of security challenges. Space continues to be a critical domain for our present and future national security, essential to our military, economic stability, and intelligence gathering capabilities, a fact of which our adversaries are keenly aware.
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