With the election over and the 119th Congress set to convene, nowhere is the need to get back to business more critical than in the realm of national security.
Front and center is China’s continued aspirations in space, with fresh details emerging on their plan for a human spaceflight mission to the moon a mere five years from now.
We have seen China make notable strides in space over the last several decades. Some of these accomplishments and moves have been defiant and brazen, like the anti-satellite test with a ballistic missile in 2007. Others have been steady and incremental, like the design, development, launch, construction, and eventual operation of the Tiangong space station. But the overall pattern at work is that China is serious about becoming a major, capable, technologically adept and constant world player in space. It is for these reasons why recent news from China’s space program should not be taken lightly or discounted as mere propaganda or geopolitical posturing. It is also why policymakers need to keep the pedal to the metal on a series of vital U.S. civil, commercial and national security space missions and efforts.
The new Trump administration and Congress need to prioritize space program initiatives that fundamentally advance U.S. human spaceflight and enduring space presence objectives. These would include privatizing low Earth orbit (LEO) outposts, encouraging development of the cislunar infrastructure, occupying a permanent presence on the moon and, finally, getting ready for long-duration missions both to the moon and to Mars. Our limited national resources need to be focused and dedicated toward these needs — especially as other players around the world move forth on their ambitious plans to place and maintain their citizens in space on a continuous basis, such as China’s International Lunar Research Station. Other policy areas and concerns — such as climate monitoring — are important and deserve attention. But they should not sit atop NASA’s list of priorities. The original, driving goals of NASA in the mid-20th century were to put humans in space and on the moon — it is notable that those goals seem as relevant and important now as they were in the late ‘50s and throughout the ‘60s.
At the same time, NASA and the U.S. Space Force (and other key elements of the defense technology and scientific community like DARPA or the service research labs) need to keep pressing on advanced technologies and capabilities in space. Sophisticated scientific research, high tech manufacturing and industrial innovation remain key elements behind the strength of our defense and national security edge — we must remain sharp in this area as competitors around the globe fervently work to close the gaps.
More broadly, every effort should be made to encourage the private sector space and technology industries to contribute to our country’s national security space needs. In tandem, the new Trump administration and Congress should seek to eliminate costly, time-consuming red tape and other unnecessary barriers to innovation and development through regulatory reform and legislation. This means protecting the technology innovators’ intellectual property in tandem with encouraging highly capable private enterprise. It also would include adopting the “fail quickly” attitude in tandem with multi-participant competitions to hedge risk. Additionally, it could consider incorporating redundant mass-produced cheaper components and systems in tandem with targeted development of space-specific technology. This also means multi-use systems development in tandem with block-upgrade capability to incrementally achieve a long-term goal.
Frankly, getting the government out of its own way can do much to get what we need up into space faster and cheaper. Generally, reducing barriers and incentivizing cutting-edge technology developers to engage with the government will be key. And, much of this shouldn’t be partisan, as it would contribute to the economic growth of both blue and red states and would be good for the nation generally.
On the day-to-day business side of space program operations, there are steps that NASA can take from a requirements generation, contracting and standards perspective that would streamline how work is done and reduce costs. For example, NASA has long been known as having the highest standards for platform and component design, technical specifications, testing and development. But while this is important for good reason and shouldn’t change – on simple component requirements, there is no reason why impossibly high and costly standards must be kept in place at the expense of technically sound and timely delivery to the government. However, governmental streamlining should not occur at the expense of reasonable safety or quality standards.
In fact, for human accommodations, tight tolerances that require extremely precise monitoring can be relaxed without harm to the occupants. Right now, for example, spacecraft atmosphere oxygen content requirements are so strict, living in most of Colorado violates the limits, I found while conducting Environment for Climate Simulations (ECliS) systems work, particularly focused on water purification, for NASA. In addition, water quality standards are so high that commercial store-bought filtered water would not pass the test. Margin on margin on margin is added until even rugged, ground-capable components are unacceptable to NASA. Time is money, and keeping programs on target saves cost and avoids further complications. Furthermore, slipped schedules are stolen progress on systems that could have been completed and flown sooner and upgraded later.
The challenges and concerns around the world aren’t going away. Our adversaries have indicated they have no intention of letting up on their agenda in space. And while their progress might cause alarm, it also represents an opportunity for a more comprehensive, concerted and forward-leaning response. Our leadership has an opportunity now to reset and recalibrate for the better — it is up to us whether we have the will, the sense, and the acuteness of understanding to heed the dark clouds on the horizon and strengthen our position in space.
Grant Anderson, P.E. is the President & CEO of Paragon Space Development Corporation, which focuses on life support and thermal control in extreme environments. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering from Stanford University.
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