Asia-Pacific

Obama leaves his mark on US space policy

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-11-26 10:02

WASHINGTON - Since the 1950s, when the American began marching into the space, each US administration has issued public summary of its main principles and goals for using space. There was no exception for the Obama administration.

On June 28, Obama unveiled his space policy, reiterating plans to send Americans to visit an asteroid by 2025 with the goal of sending astronauts to Mars in the mid-2030s, calling for more commercial and international sector cooperation on space exploration.

LANDING MARS INSTEAD OF THE MOON

The new space policy set far-reaching exploration milestones for the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

According to the 14-page policy document, NASA will begin crewed missions beyond the moon, including sending humans to an asteroid by 2025. By the mid-2030s, the US space agency will send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth.

"We set ambitious goals for NASA: ramping up robotic and human space exploration, with our sights set on Mars and beyond, to improve the capacity of human beings to learn and work safely beyond the Earth for extended periods of time," Obama said while uncovering the policy.

The document, which extends the lifetime of the International Space Station by at least 2020, officially brought the Constellation program to an end.

NASA's original Constellation program is aimed at retiring the space shuttle fleet in late 2010 and replacing it with Orion spacecraft and Ares rockets by 2015. But an independent review by a White House committee found the program behind schedule and underfunded to accomplish its end-goal of returning astronauts to the moon by 2020.

"We've been there before," Obama said. "There's a lot more of space to explore."

Joan Johnson-Freese, professor of national security affairs at Naval War College, told Xinhua that "while canceling programs is never something a president wants to do, sometimes it is not only the only realistic option, but it can be viewed as an opportunity for restructuring toward a more inclusive program."

BOOSTING COMMERCIAL SPACE PROJECT

The new national space policy restated the Obama administration's strategy of seeking partnerships with commercial spaceflight organizations to transport crew and cargo to and from the International Space Station.

Once the current shuttle program ends next year, the United States will rely on Russia's Soyuz rockets to carry astronauts to the space station until a commercial US launcher can be developed.

The policy calls for the use of inventive, nontraditional arrangements for acquiring commercial space goods and services to meet US government requirements, including measures such as public-private partnerships, hosting government capabilities on commercial spacecraft, and purchasing scientific or operational data products from commercial satellite operators in support of government missions. It requires that governmental space systems be developed only when it is in the national interest and there is no suitable, cost-effective US commercial or, as appropriate, foreign commercial service or system that is or will be available.

It also requires that US government space technology and infrastructure are made available for commercial use on a reimbursable, noninterference, and equitable basis to the maximum practical extent.

Joan Johnson-Freese commented that for decades, studies have shown that there should be more cooperation between public-private space ventures.

"If you think of airplanes and computers, in those fields the government initially provided funding for development, but then private industry stepped in and really allowed those industries to flourish," Johnson-Freese told Xinhua. "Space has been an anomaly. Space has been dominated by public funding for development, to its ultimate detriment. Having more private sector involvement will ultimately assure a long-term commitment to space, as it develops as a more normal industry."

However, Scott Pace, director of the George Washington University's Space Policy Institute, seemed cautious.

"In theory, private industry can act more quickly and can be more adaptable than government agencies. They can be more efficient in operating technologies that are well-understood. On the other hand, governments can take on risks that private sector firms cannot. Thus it is crucial to have a good understanding of the best roles for government and industry at any particular stage of technology development," Pace told Xinhua in an email.

"Commercial firms can supply cargo to the International Space Station. Much more work is needed to prove that commercial firms can safely carry humans to the Space Station."

CALLING FOR GLOBAL COOPERATION

The Obama administration unveiled a space policy that renounces the unilateral stance taken by Bush administration (National Space Policy 2006) and instead emphasizes international cooperation across a wide range of scientific, exploration and national-security projects. From navigation and earth observation satellites to robotic spacecraft to reducing hazards posed by orbital debris, the new policy shows willingness to share data for future programs.

"No longer are we racing against an adversary; in fact, one of our central goals is to promote peaceful cooperation and collaboration in space, which not only will ward off conflict, but will help to expand our capacity to operate in orbit and beyond," Obama said.

For the first time, Obama's space and national-security advisers have opened the door to possible international cooperation on the existing Global Positioning System satellite constellation, which is operated by the US Air Force and serves military and commercial users world-wide.

Faced with mounting GPS program costs and escalating demands to transfer dollars from Pentagon space accounts to other US defense programs, Air Force officials have been quietly considering postponing some GPS satellite launches.

However, the new policy allows foreign navigation satellites "to augment but not replace" GPS capabilities.

"The most striking change in the new National Space Policy is the recognition of mutual interdependence among the United States and the other space-capable countries of the world," said John Logsdon, professor emeritus of political science and international affairs at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs.

"The policy acknowledges that the United States needs partners in making sure that space remains a sustainable environment for what this country wants to do in space, and commits the United States to take the lead in working with other countries to achieve that goal."

"This shift away from unilateral leadership to leadership among partners is a sea change," he said. "The many specific cooperative activities outlined in the policy follow from that basic recognition."