The National Space Council — a Cold War-era space oversight committee relaunched last June after being disbanded and relaunched several times — announced a series of measures designed to make it easier for private companies, such as SpaceX or Blue Origin, to launch satellites into space. Basically, by reducing regulations, the goal is to get as many satellites up in the air as possible.
Per the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, governments aren’t allowed to claim territories in outer space — such as the moon or an asteroid — on behalf of their own countries. However, that doesn’t mean businesses can’t do it. That means the way to promote national dominance in space is to promote space businesses, which in this case, includes commercial satellites.
Brian Weeden, the Director of Program Planning for Secure World Foundation, which focuses on sustainability in space ventures, said in a phone call with The Outline that the National Space Council continues a pro-business agenda for the commercial space sector from the Obama administration. American soft power in space is a bipartisan issue.
The Final Frontier
But the National Space Council is taking crucial steps in making it easier to launch as many satellites as possible, including with technology we’ve never seen before. According to Weeden, one of these steps has to do with "mission authorization" relates to unusual types of space technology. This technology includes asteroid mining technology, which doesn’t exist yet, as well as moon rovers and satellites that refuel other satellites, both of which exist.
There can be no thought of finishing for ‘aiming for the stars.’ Both figuratively and literally, it is a task to occupy the generations. And no matter how much progress one makes, there is always the thrill of just beginning.
Reaching for the Stars
Under Obama, authorizing these missions fell under the of the Department of Transportation, which Weeden says has a reputation of prioritizing regulation. Under Trump’s National Space Council, mission authorization is shifting to the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce, which is known for prioritizing the interests of business over regulation.
To go places and do things that have never been done before – that’s what living is all about.
Over the next several years, we may see the emergence of asteroid mining technology —an attractive venture for space companies, but one that could produce debris that threatens the safety of people and technology in space. If asteroid mining becomes a reality under these National Space Council policies, these missions could more likely to be approved as missions than they were before.
What was most significant about the lunar voyage was not that man set foot on the Moon but that they set eye on the earth.
According to a letter penned by Weeden and Secure World Foundation Project Manager Ian Christensen to Congresspeople on the Space Subcommittee Committee on Science, Space & Technology, there’s a middle ground between laissez-fair and over-regulation, because the success of well-conceived commercial space projects have the potential to benefits US citizens as well as the state.