Photo: NASA
This series, Space in Focus, explores key space trends, challenges, and policy issues that will confront the next administration as well as offers recommendations for how to navigate them.
Humanity’s drive to explore, our thirst for knowledge, defines us as a species. This pioneering spirit is an inherent part of American character and is at the very core of the Artemis program. Artemis is a dream made real, a bold initiative to return to the Moon, establish a permanent human presence there, and leverage that first foothold beyond the cradle of Earth to launch not just one, but ongoing missions to Mars to settle the Red Planet. Thanks in no small part to the current golden age of commercial space, we have the technology, the people, and the facilities to realize such audacious goals. However, the most important part of any space program is not fuel, engines, or hardware of any kind—it’s commitment. The question for the American space endeavor is: Can we maintain our commitment to achieve success, or will we turn back and falter?
Sadly, throughout my entire life, the United States has failed to sustain a beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) human spaceflight program. For beyond LEO programs, failure hasn’t just been an option, it has been a certainty. Artemis is the answer to this conundrum. Artemis was crafted to unite the factions within our own space community and throughout the world, bringing together Moon and Mars advocates, science and human spaceflight supporters, as well as the government and the private sector. Artemis was the first beyond LEO human spaceflight program since Apollo to make the transition from one partisan presidential administration to another. This transition was not easy, and Artemis only survived due to the courage and commitment of champions on both sides of the political aisle. Now, the question looms: Can we do it again?
Like any massive public endeavor, Artemis faces many challenges and there are certainly areas that are in need of reevaluation and improvement, but what future White House policymakers cannot and must not do is show anything other than unflagging support for the overarching goals of Artemis to bring humanity to the Moon and Mars. Any new administration should immediately signal publicly and explicitly their commitment to Artemis and establish budget priorities accordingly. This will be a vital message to send not only here in the United States but also to our international partners abroad. Both the present NASA administrator, Bill Nelson, and his immediate predecessor, Jim Bridenstine, have been crystal clear that we are in an existential competition with China. If China reaches the Moon before we do, and establishes a permanent presence there, it will deliver not only a blow to NASA but to America as a nation and even the values that we represent. We must put political labels aside and come together as Americans to ensure that we launch not just our astronauts, but our values of freedom, liberty, and equality to the Moon and beyond. On behalf of all of us who put our hearts and souls into the Artemis program, consider this commentary a plea for continuity.
The world is watching, and our international partners around the globe are asking: Can America still lead, and can we carry Artemis through to fruition? While Artemis will unquestionably deliver incredible scientific discoveries, of equal importance is the geopolitical, diplomatic, and soft power aspects of the program. Forty-five countries have now signed the Artemis Accords, showing unprecedented interest in joining the Artemis journey and establishing norms of behavior in space that will create a future of peace and prosperity. The European Space Agency, along with the governments of Japan, Canada, and, most recently, the United Arab Emirates via the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, are committing billions of dollars to join with the U.S. to bring humanity back to the stars. NASA’s lunar Gateway in particular represents the physical manifestation of this singular global partnership. Again, a new presidential administration should quickly affirm its commitment to Artemis generally and to Gateway specifically, reassuring our international allies and preventing China and Russia from peeling off any support from the burgeoning Artemis global coalition.
However, it’s vital to also note that Artemis, and all of our human spaceflight efforts, are built upon a foundation that begins in LEO. For over 20 years, the International Space Station (ISS) has ensured that America is the hub around which the space world rotates. Unfortunately, the ISS is aging and will eventually need to be retired. In parallel, China has launched a new space station and is actively soliciting international partners. While expanding a human presence to the Moon and Mars is critical, there will always be far more launch opportunities and activities in Earth orbit than there will be beyond LEO. Therefore, the political implications of ceding crewed LEO activities to China are at least as dire as losing the Moon to an increasingly aggressive autocracy. Moreover, we are just now beginning to realize the incredible potential of microgravity research, development, and manufacturing. For example, last year, aboard the ISS, a human meniscus was printed in space. Subsequently, this year, live cardiovascular tissue was printed, potentially leading to new treatments for heart disease. Additionally, the ability to create enhanced seed crystals in microgravity for a variety of pharmaceuticals could transform humanity’s ability to treat diseases from diabetes to cancer. If America turns back now, we risk ceding these potentially revolutionary developments to China.
For all of these reasons, we must ensure that America maintains a continuous crewed presence in LEO. This would be achieved through a combination of extending the ISS (or potentially repurposing parts of it) and accelerating the development and deployment of commercial space stations. A future administration must bolster our commercial space station efforts to ensure that we avoid not only a space station gap but that America’s crewed presence in LEO is at least as robust as the Chinese station. Only by doing this can we sustain the unprecedented international coalition that the ISS has provided and enjoy the robust scientific and commercial benefits that microgravity manufacturing offers.
Maintaining American leadership in both LEO and beyond will be neither simple nor easy but, as President John F. Kennedy said, we do these things “not because they are easy but because they are hard.” The next presidential administration must continue to leverage the power of public-private partnerships, grow international support, and do so all while proactively taking steps to unite America and the world. Through such actions, humanity can keep exploring, keep dreaming, and keep the torch of freedom shining from Earth to the stars.
Mike Gold is the chief growth officer at Redwire and previously served as NASA’s associate administrator for policy and partnerships, acting associate administrator for the Office of International and Interagency Relations, and senior advisor to the administrator for international and legal affairs.