The following president of the USA may very well be the primary in that workplace to just accept a cellphone name from the moon and listen to a girl’s voice on the road. To take action, they’ll first must make a collection of strategic area coverage selections. They’ll additionally want just a little luck.
Huge authorities funding helps outer area actions, so the U.S. president has an outsize position in shaping area coverage throughout their time in workplace.
Previous presidents have leveraged this energy to speed up U.S. management in area and increase their presidential model alongside the best way. Presidential advocacy has helped the U.S. land astronauts on the floor of the Moon, set up lasting worldwide partnerships with civil area companies overseas and led to many different vital area milestones.
However most presidential candidates chorus from discussing area coverage on the marketing campaign path in significant element, leaving voters at midnight on their visions for the ultimate frontier.
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For a lot of candidates, moving into the weeds of their area coverage plans could also be extra bother than it’s value. For one, not each president even will get the chance for significant and memorable area coverage decision-making, since area missions can function on decades-long timelines. And in previous elections, those that do present help for area initiatives usually face criticism from their opponents for their excessive worth tags.
However the 2024 election is totally different. Each candidates have government data in area coverage, a uncommon deal with for area fanatics casting their votes this November.
As a researcher who research worldwide affairs in outer area, I’m inquisitive about how these data interface with the strategic and sustainable use of that area. A better look reveals that former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have used their positions to persistently prioritize U.S. management in area, however they’ve carried out so with noticeably totally different types and outcomes.
Trump’s area coverage report
As president, Trump established a report of significant and lasting area coverage selections, however did so whereas attracting extra consideration to his administration’s area actions than his predecessors. He often took private credit score for concepts and accomplishments that predated his time in workplace.
The previous president oversaw the institution of the U.S. House Pressure and the reestablishment of the U.S. House Command, in addition to the Nationwide House Council. These organizations help the event and operation of navy area applied sciences, defend nationwide safety satellites in future conflicts and coordinate between federal companies working within the area area.
He additionally had the best report of area coverage directives in current historical past. These coverage directives make clear the U.S. authorities’s objectives in area, together with the way it ought to each help and depend on the business area sector, monitor objects in Earth’s orbit and defend satellites from cyber threats.
He has referred to as his advocacy for the creation of the House Pressure one in all his proudest achievements of his time period. Nevertheless, this advocacy contributed to polarized help for the brand new department. This polarization broke the extra widespread sample of bipartisan public help for area programming.
Like many presidents, not all of Trump’s visions for area had been realized. He efficiently redirected NASA’s key human spaceflight vacation spot from Mars again to the Moon. However his specific aim of astronauts reaching the lunar floor by 2024 was not reasonable, given his finances proposal for the company.
Ought to he be elected once more, the previous president could want to speed up NASA’s Moon plans by furthering funding in the company’s Artemis program, which homes its lunar initiatives.
He could body the initiative as a brand new area race in opposition to China.
Harris’ area coverage report
The Biden administration has continued to help Trump-era initiatives, resisting the temptation to undo or cancel previous proposals. Its legacy in area is noticeably smaller.
Because the chair of the Nationwide House Council, Harris has set U.S. area coverage priorities and represented the USA on the worldwide stage.
Notably, the Trump administration stored this place that the president can alter at will assigned to the vp, a precedent the Biden administration upheld.
On this position, Harris led the United States’ dedication to chorus from testing weapons in area that produce harmful, long-lasting area particles. This determination marks an achievement for the U.S. in holding area operations sustainable and setting an instance for others within the worldwide area neighborhood.
Like some Trump administration area coverage priorities, not all of Harris’ proposals discovered footing in Washington.
The council’s plan to determine a framework for comprehensively regulating business area actions within the U.S., for instance, stalled in Congress.
If enacted, these new laws would have ensured that future area actions, corresponding to non-public firms working on the Moon or transporting vacationers to orbit and again, cross vital security checks.
Ought to she be elected, Harris could select to proceed her efforts to form accountable norms of habits in area and manage oversight over the area trade.
Alternatively, she may cede the portfolio to her personal vp, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who has nearly no monitor report on area coverage points.
Stability in main area coverage selections
Regardless of the 2 candidates’ vastly totally different platforms, voters can anticipate stability in U.S. area coverage on account of this yr’s election.
Given their previous management, it’s unlikely that both candidate will search to dramatically alter the long-term missions the most important authorities area organizations have underway in the course of the upcoming presidential time period. And neither is more likely to undercut their predecessors’ accomplishments.
