Space policy has been evolving for decades, and as the industry continues to ramp up, we must constantly reassess the challenges and opportunities governing its growth. A new paper from Aerospace's Center for Space Policy and Strategy finds that the lessons and efforts of the past are still very relevant, but also that today's dynamics suggest a new path forward.
The paper, entitled "Revisiting National Space Transportation Policy: It's Not Just Rockets Anymore," was written by Brian Weeden and Robert Unverzagt. It summarizes decades of evolving policy across a dozen administrations, showing how they built on and sometimes conflicted with one another over time.
This history shows policymakers must necessarily stay flexible in order to accommodate changes in industry and the global environment. Yet many choices made early on are still felt today, in ways their makers could not have foreseen. The authors conclude that the complex and shifting nature of the space enterprise means there never has been or will be a "silver bullet" set of policies, but that as we get better at identifying challenges and defining outcomes, we can measurably improve.
The paper specifically calls out numerous topics that need further investigation. One perennial question is new space transportation technologies that might benefit from greater government investment, for example, like space-based nuclear power and propulsion. And on the frontier, if we are to go from dozens to hundreds of people in space concurrently, what is the rescue plan and who oversees it?
These and other concerns detailed in the paper provide a compelling foundation for the next phase of space policy. As the authors conclude:
A new policy that takes into account the persistent challenges and forges a consensus between public and private stakeholders has the opportunity to set the United States on a course to maintain its global leadership in space, secure our vital economic and security interests, and lay the foundation for a return to the Moon and the expansion of human presence to Mars and beyond.