President Donald Trump made clear in his inaugural address that his administration was going to pursue an active space program. He said that we are a nation “ready to unlock the mysteries of space.”
For more than a decade, much of America’s space program has stagnated. Human spaceflight has been stuck in low earth orbit for more than 30 years. Robotic deep space exploration has achieved many brilliant successes, but its budgets have been reduced in recent years to find funds for more earth-centric pursuits. Real progress has been made by commercial space companies, who have flown supplies to the International Space Station and built satellites and satellite constellations that impact our daily lives in remarkable ways. Yet our national assets have become more and more vulnerable as our strategic and economic adversaries have invested heavily in an attempt to occupy the high ground of space. Our space investments have not reflected that same level of commitment.
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