Tag: space force

Will Biden Cede Space Preeminence to the Chinese?

Article by Douglas MacKinnon                                December 12, 2020                                   (thehill.com)

• On December 9th, Vice President Mike Pence addressed an assembly of the National Space Council, and to introduce the NASA astronauts selected for the Artemis Program’s return of humans to the Moon. During his speech, Pence made mention of the growing threat posed to the United States by China’s militarized space program. “China is increasingly emerging as a serious competitor in space,” said Pence. “As the world witnessed, China recently landed an unmanned craft on the moon and, for the first time, robotically raised the red flag of Communist China on that magnificent desolation.”

• “China is increasingly emerging as a serious competitor in space,” said Pence. “In four short years (ie: Trump’s administration), America is leading in space once again.” The reality is that China emerged as a serious competitor well over a decade ago, becoming the preeminent space-faring nation on Earth. The Trump administration has been forced to play catch-up after the setbacks in the space program enacted under his previous administration. And now that Joe Biden may be assuming the White House in January, China knows that the US is could to slip further behind.

• Virtually every incoming President has tended to scale back or dismantle the space policies enacted by his predecessor. When Barack Obama replaced George W. Bush, his administration oversaw the shutdown of America’s ability to send astronauts into space on US spacecraft. We came to rely on the Russians to get Americans to the mostly U.S.-built International Space Station – at a cost of $90 million per astronaut.

• The political and military leadership of China are thrilled that an incoming Biden administration, which despises Trump, would put Trump’s space policies – such as the Space Force, the return of American astronauts to the Moon, and the very existence of the National Space Council – squarely in the crosshairs of Team Biden. Much of Biden’s NASA transition team is led and staffed by Obama-era retreads who have made it abundantly clear that they favor redirecting NASA and Space Force dollars toward domestic programs and fighting climate change.

• Such stated goals are music to the ears of the People’s Republic of China. Every US tax dollar directed away from the American space program is a victory for China and their ultimate endgame. China understands its greatest competition, and its greatest threat, is the United States. They look for any opportunity to create an advantage over the US to further its goal to dominate the cislunar theater from Earth to the Moon. Recent news of the Chinese government seeking to compromise certain US politicians is evidence of China’s long-term strategy to usurp American power.

• You can be sure the Chinese leadership is hopeful that Biden will not only dismantle all that Trump has done regarding space, but will relegate the US space program to a back burner. In this case, historic precedent is on the side of the Chinese.

 

This past week, Vice President Mike Pence, in his capacity as chair of the National Space Council, addressed a meeting of that group at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Although his speech was rather generic and filled with too much partisan praise of President Trump, he did manage to briefly address a critically important topic: the growing threat posed to the United States by China’s militarized space program.

But, as they say in the news business, even with that warning, Pence still managed to “bury the lead.” In remarks that stretched almost two hours, he spoke about the threat from China for only one brief paragraph.

Said Pence: “China is increasingly emerging as a serious competitor in space, just as they are in other areas of the global economy and to the strategic interest of the United States. As the world witnessed, China recently landed an unmanned craft on the moon and, for the first time, robotically raised the red flag of Communist China on that magnificent desolation.”

The political and military leadership directing China’s space program must have burst out laughing when they heard or read Pence’s assessment that “China is increasingly emerging as a serious competitor in space,” or when, later in the speech, he declared: “In four short years, America is leading in space once again — it’s true.”

In fact, China “emerged” as a “serious competitor” well over a decade ago.

China knows it is the preeminent space-faring nation on Earth, and that the United States may be about to slip much further behind them with the coming change in presidential administrations.

For all those in the United States who understand the critical need for the United States to have robust civilian and military space programs, almost every presidential election becomes a recurring nightmare realized.

The main reason is that virtually every incoming president tends to scale back or dismantle the space policies enacted by his predecessor. The fact that the “predecessor” in this case will be Donald Trump, who is despised by much of the incoming Biden administration, puts Trump’s space policies and programs squarely in the “cancel it” crosshairs of Team Biden — policies such as the Space Force, a return of American astronauts to the moon, and the very existence of the National Space Council itself.

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Trump Leaves a Lasting Mark on Space

Article by Miriam Kramer                                           December 15, 2020                                         (axios.com)

• President Trump put the American space program front-and-center during his tenure. Building upon years of work by the space industry, the Trump administration helped open up new commercial opportunities in orbit. But some question whether those gains are sustainable in the long term.

• “I think the space program is in better shape now than it was when he took office,” says John Logsdon, the founder of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. Trump consistently prioritized NASA funding in his budget proposals and relaunched the National Space Council which holds agencies accountable for their work with space. His administration extended the reach of commercial partnerships in space, outsourcing that work to private companies in a trend that is likely to continue far into the future. And Trump created Space Force.

• Most of the criticism of Trump’s space policy is due to the political rhetoric accompanying them rather than the substance. Trump consistently politicized NASA’s wins, claiming credit for the Obama and Bush-era policies, and framing NASA’s accomplishments as ways to “make America great again,” Logsdon said. That has put off some space allies, including Russia, which has yet to sign on to NASA’s Artemis Accords’ plans for the exploration of the Moon.

• The Trump administration moved the ball forward for the US space enterprise, to be sure. But credit also goes to those in the space industry who went before and did years of ground work. Commercializing space with private rockets and spacecraft has taken time and funding from a number of previous administrations. The Space Force was an idea long before Trump took office.

• Some experts are also concerned that some of the progress made in commercializing space may not be sustainable. Landing people on the Moon is an entirely new level of difficulty for any private company. Some lawmakers have expressed concerns about whether a human lander built by private companies would be as safe as one built by NASA. And the market for space services may be limited to government customers, at least for the foreseeable future, as the private market for those kinds of missions isn’t clear.

• Biden will need to decide what his administration will build on when it comes to Trump’s space policies. Some suggest the new administration should continue with the Artemis Moon missions, commercial opportunities, and Space Force while changing the rhetoric around space accomplishments.

 

President Trump put the American space program front-and-center during his tenure, defining priorities in orbit and beyond that will outlast his four years as president.

The big picture: The Trump administration helped open up new commercial opportunities in orbit, building on years of work by the space industry. But some question whether those gains are sustainable in the long term.

What’s happening: “I think the space program is in better shape now than it was when he took office,” John Logsdon, the founder of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, told me.

• Trump consistently prioritized NASA funding in his budget proposals and relaunched the National Space Council, which aims to hold agencies accountable for their work with space.
• The Trump administration also extended the reach of commercial partnerships in space. Instead of NASA building a human-rated lunar lander, for example, the agency is outsourcing that work to private companies in a trend that is likely to continue far into the future.
• “[Space] may be one of the least controversial areas of his legacy,” Michael Gleason of the Aerospace Corporation told me.
• And perhaps his biggest move was standing up the U.S. Space Force.
“While some of the Trump administration’s space policy decisions and initiatives have generated criticism, that is more due to the political rhetoric accompanying them than the substance.”
— The Secure World Foundation, in a briefing document

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Trump Administration’s ‘National Space Policy’ and Space Force’s Role

Article by Sandra Erwin                                       December 9, 2020                                         (spacenews.com)

• On December 9th, the Trump administration released a new National Space Policy to replace the previous version issued by the Obama administration in 2010. The new policy “highlights the Department of Defense as a key agency in implementing and achieving the nation’s goals in this important domain,” with the US Space Force as the vanguard.

• The policy states that the Space Force is responsible for “defending the use of space for US national security purposes. This includes protecting and preserving lines of communication that are open, safe and secure in the space domain”. The service will also “deter adversaries and other actors from conducting activities that may threaten the peaceful use of space by the United States, its allies and partners; while compelling and imposing costs on adversaries to cease behaviors threatening that peaceful use.”

• Gen. John Raymond, Chief of Space Operations, said the national space policy “guides the efforts of the United States Space Force as we continue to deliver capabilities and forces in defense of our nation’s interests in space.”

• Christopher Miller, Acting Secretary of Defense, said, “Over the last year we have established the necessary organizations to ensure we can deter hostilities, demonstrate responsible behaviors, defeat aggression and protect the interests of the United States and our allies.”

 

  President Trump and Gen. John Raymond

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration released a new national space policy Dec. 9 that articulates U.S. goals in civil space exploration, commercial growth and national security. The document recognizes the U.S. Space Force as the primary organization responsible for defending the nation’s interests in space.

The previous version of the national space policy was issued by the Obama administration in 2010.

The Pentagon in a statement said the new policy document “highlights the Department of Defense as a

                    Christopher Miller

key agency in implementing and achieving the nation’s goals in this important domain.”

Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller said: “Over the last year we have established the necessary organizations to ensure we can deter hostilities, demonstrate responsible behaviors, defeat aggression and protect the interests of the United States and our allies.”

The policy states that the Space Force, which was established in December 2019, is responsible for “defending the use of space for U.S. national security purposes. This includes protecting and preserving lines of communication that are open, safe and secure in the space domain. The service also will “deter adversaries and other actors from conducting activities that may threaten the peaceful use of space by the United States, its allies and partners; while compelling and imposing costs on adversaries to cease behaviors threatening that peaceful use.”

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China vs the US and the Risks of a Space Rivalry

Article by Sarah Zheng                                    November 29, 2020                                (scmp.com)

• The recent voyage of China’s Chang’e 5 lunar spacecraft to bring Moon samples back to Earth was more than a signal of China’s ambitions to US military officials. To Space Force General John Raymond it represented a threat that China and Russia pose to American access to space. “The two countries seek to stop US access to space, Raymond posted on the DoD website. “[T]hey are developing capabilities that would negate the US advantage.” Raymond is calling for the US to work more closely with its allies, to “stay ahead of the growing threat.”

• Raymond’s approach would continue to deny China access to American technology and ensure a clear separation between the US and Chinese space programs. But Matthew Daniels, a senior fellow at Georgetown University, notes that the division between the US and Chinese space programs is due to US barriers, resulting in almost no direct links between the two countries in space technology research, development and operations. The US is ahead in technologies such as reusable launch systems and satellite manufacturing, but China is narrowing the gap. So cutting the US off from Chinese advancements in technology could come at a cost for the United States and miss an opportunity to reduce the risk of political conflict. So should the US cooperate with China in some areas or continue to freeze it out?

• Further limits on the transfer of space technologies to China could be carried out with still more barriers to US commercial space technology transfers, extra limits on US civil space engagement and coordination, diplomatic pressure on third parties working with both the US and China, and visa restrictions on Chinese aerospace researchers. In the long term, however, it could encourage China to establish a stronger space technology ecosystem of its own. China would then have more of a chance to build alternative international coalitions, including by drawing in Europe and Russia.

• “The current separation will probably continue to slow China in the near term,” says Daniels. “[T]his effect will diminish, however, and it may help grow indigenous supply chains and markets in China.” The US could thereby lose its international leadership in space, while missing a chance to obtain strategic information about China’s space activities and reducing the opportunity to manage crises and conflict.”

 

              Gen. John “Jay” Raymond

When the Chang’e 5 lunar spacecraft lifted off from a launch pad in southern China this week it was not just a signal of China’s ambitions to bring moon samples back to Earth. Half a world away in the United States, the launch was a sign to US Space Force General John Raymond of the threat that China – together with Russia – poses in blocking American access to space.

                      Matthew Daniels

“The two countries seek to stop US access to space, and they are developing capabilities that would negate the US advantage,” he said in an interview published on the US Department of Defence website.

Raymond called for the US to work more closely with allies, to “stay ahead of the growing threat” from China.

It is an approach that would continue to deny China access to American technology and ensure a clear separation between the US and Chinese space programmes.

But some observers say that this could come at a cost for the United States and miss an opportunity to reduce the risk of conflict.
The two space programmes are already “substantially separated”, according to Matthew Daniels, a senior expert for the Office of the US Secretary of Defence and a senior fellow at Georgetown University.

In a report published in October published by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Daniels said the division was due mostly to US barriers, resulting in almost no direct links between the two countries in space technology research, development and operations.

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America’s ‘Star Wars’ Against China

Article by Tom Fowdy                                 November 25, 2020                                  (news.cgtn.com)

• The Trump administration has announced that it is adding an additional 89 Chinese aerospace companies to the list of those prohibited from acquiring US-made components and technologies without approval, linking them to a “national security threat.” The obvious goal is protectionism – to stifle China’s own development in the aerospace sector, forcing China to rely on US firms such as Boeing.

• The Trump administration has made the decision that China represents a competitor in space exploration and technology, and that Beijing wants to militarize outer space. As China sends its Chang’e-5 lunar module to the Moon, Trump is trying to undermine China’s entire aerospace industry to gain the upper hand.

• In 2018, Trump created Space Force “to protect US and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force” including satellite-orientated warfare and missile technology. Is this not the militarization of outer space contravening the 1967 Outer Space Treaty? The United States wants to gain unchallenged military hegemony over the entire world and sees China as a “competitor.”

• The US defense community claims that it is Beijing that is militarizing space as it works on its own satellite and exploration programs. As an article from Defense News claims, “China wants to dominate space, and the US must take countermeasures.” Beijing, however, claims to uphold the consensus that space is for peaceful development only.

• In December 2019, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang condemned the US Space Force, stating, “The relevant US actions are a serious violation of the international consensus on the peaceful use of outer space, undermine global strategic balance and stability, and pose a direct threat to outer space peace and security.”

• The “China threat” narrative is about maintaining US strategic supremacy as the only major player in outer space. This view predates Trump, with the Obama administration banning coordination of China’s national space agency with NASA in 2011, and excluding China from participating in the international space station.

• More attention should be focused on America’s emerging “Star Wars” against China. Space Force is a new strategic frontier for American militarization, aimed at competitor states such as China, in contravention of international law. The development of outer space exploration and technology ought only to be for peaceful purposes for “the common heritage of mankind.”

• [Editor’s Note]   Can the Chinese Communist Party be trusted to be peaceful? The CCP has come under the control of the Deep State and President Trump knows this. As the white hat Alliance is in the process of dismantling the Deep State – in America, in China, and everywhere else in the world – the Deep State would like nothing better than to trigger a global war in order to maintain its long-standing global domination. The Deep State-controlled CCP is desperate as the Chinese people, and even President Xi Jinping himself, see the Chinese government’s corruption and are turning against the established Communist Party. So as things come to a head now in this five-dimensional chess game, Trump and the US military may have a very good reason to keep the pressure on Beijing.

 

A few days ago the news was announced that the Trump administration was preparing to add an additional 89 Chinese companies to the commerce department’s entity list, prohibiting them from acquiring U.S.-made components and technologies without approval and claiming they are linked to the military and represent a “national security threat.” The firms were noticeably all in the aerospace industry, with an obvious goal of attempting to stifle China’s own development in this sector and force Beijing to be reliant on U.S. firms such as Boeing. Given the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) (a firm being listed) is launching its own domestically made alternative to the 737, the C919, next year, it is difficult to see the move in any other light. It’s obvious protectionism.

But there is another angle, a strategic one too, of outer space. The Trump administration has long made a decision that China represents a competitor in space exploration and technology, and claimed falsely that Beijing seeks to militarize the cosmos as a pretext for their own militarization plans, contravening the 1967 Outer Space Treaty which pledges that space and “celestial bodies” may only be used for “peaceful development” and not military means.

In doing so, the administration has over the past few years put in place plans to transform space into the newest “strategic frontier” and now, as China launches Chang’e-5, seeks to undermine China’s entire aerospace industry to gain the upper hand. As a result, this is a sphere worth watching.
The U.S. “Space Force”.

In 2018, Trump announced the creation of a “U.S. space force” or “space command.” Although the idea was ridiculed for sounding like something out of a science fiction novel, it is, in fact, something serious. The strategic objectives of such a command is, as is stated on its website, “to protect U.S. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force.” That is the militarization of outer space. This includes things such as satellite-orientated warfare and missile technology. The United States wants to gain the upper hand in this sphere in order to maintain unchallenged military hegemony over the entire world and with that viewpoint comes the designation of China as a “competitor.”

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Air Force Secretary Barrett Calls for Clean-Up of Space Debris

Article by Frank Wolfe                                 November 16, 2020                                   (defensedaily.com)

• On November 16th, Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett called on industry to help the US Space Force with cleaning up space debris to help avoid collisions in space. Barrett told the ASCEND 2020 forum sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. “What we’d like to see in the future is not just tracking, but cleaning up that litter–figuring ways how do you consolidate, how do you get that hazard–17,500 miles per hour rocketing through space, it is a great hazard.”

• “Just think about the GPS system alone,” Barrett said. “Consider how much we depend upon the GPS system. It’s free and accessible to everyone globally, and it’s operated by just eight to 10 people on a shift. So a total of 40 people operate this extraordinary system upon which so much of our current economy depends. It’s broadly used. It’s transformative, but it’s fragile. So that space debris is really a danger to things like our GPS systems. We’ve got to replace those. We’ve got to minimize their vulnerability, and we have to have, as the Space Force will do, space capabilities that will deter others from doing damage to that system upon which so much depends.”

• According to NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO), there are 23,000 large pieces of debris greater than 10 cm tracked by the Space Force’s US Space Surveillance Network. Prior to 2007, the principal source of debris was from explosions of launch vehicle upper stages and spacecraft. But the intentional destruction of a weather satellite by China in 2007 and the accidental collision of the American communications satellite with a retired Russian spacecraft in 2009 greatly increased the number of large debris in orbit and now represent one-third of all cataloged orbital debris.

• US Space Command’s 18th Space Control Squadron at Vandenberg AFB, California monitors 3,200 active satellites for close approaches with approximately 24,000 pieces of space debris, and issues an average of 15 high-interest warnings for active near-Earth satellites, and ten high-interest warnings for active deep-space satellites, every day.

• NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine recently suggested that nations that damage satellites are risking a legal challenge under the 1972 Liability Convention to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. In the only claim under the Liability Convention, the Soviet Union paid Canada $2 million after a Soviet nuclear-powered reconnaissance satellite crashed in western Canada in 1978, scattering radioactive debris.

• The US Space Force and the UK are working together to reduce orbiting space debris. Last year, the UK became the first nation to join the US-led Operation Olympic Defender to deter “hostile” space actors, such as China, Russia, and Iran, and decrease the spread of on-orbit space debris. The White House has noted that private companies are developing ‘on-orbit robotic operations’ for active space debris removal. Last March, Space Force chief General John ‘Jay’ Raymond announced that Lockheed Martin‘s ‘Space Fence radar system’ had achieved initial operational capability track smaller objects in low Earth orbit and in Geostationary orbit.

 

          Barbara Barrett

Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett on Nov. 16 called on industry to help the Air Force and U.S. Space Force with cleaning up space debris to help avoid collisions in space.

“For a long time, the United States Air Force has been tracking space debris, but there’s a lot more to be done,”

      progression of orbiting space debris

Barrett told the ASCEND 2020 forum sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). “What we’d like to see in the future is not just tracking, but cleaning up that litter–figuring ways how do you consolidate, how do you get that hazard–17,500 miles per hour rocketing through space, it is a great hazard.”

“Just think about the GPS system alone,” she said. “Consider how much we depend upon the GPS system. It’ s free and accessible to everyone globally, and it’s operated by just eight to 10 people on a shift. So a total of 40 people operate this

         Gen. John “Jay” Raymond

extraordinary system upon which so much of our current economy depends. It’s broadly used. It’s transformative, but it’s fragile. So that space debris is really a danger to things like our GPS systems. We’ve got to replace those. We’ve got to minimize their vulnerability, and we have to have, as the Space Force

                     Jim Bridenstine

will do, space capabilities that will deter others from doing damage to that system upon which so much depends.”

Barrett said that processes and doctrines to outline rules of the road in space and aid space traffic management are underway.
According to NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO), there are 23,000 large pieces of debris greater than 10 cm tracked by the Space Force’s U.S. Space Surveillance Network.

“Prior to 2007, the principal source of debris was from explosions of launch vehicle upper stages and spacecraft,” per ODPO. “The intentional destruction of the Fengyun-1C weather satellite by China in 2007 and the accidental collision of the American communications satellite, Iridium-33, and the retired Russian spacecraft, Cosmos-2251, in 2009 greatly increased the number of large debris in orbit and now represent one-third of all cataloged orbital debris.”

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The National Space Intelligence Center Takes Shape

Article by Rachel S. Cohen                                     November 16, 2020                                    (airforcemag.com)

• As part of the Department of the Air Force’s review of which units should transfer to the Space Force, two pieces of the National Air and Space Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base – the Space Analysis Squadron and Counter-Space Analysis Squadron – will be turned over to Space Force to form the basis of a new National Space Intelligence Center (NASIC).

• NASIC, whose roots date back to analysis of a Soviet space launch in the 1950s, is tasked with identifying air, space, missile, and cyber threats facing the Air Force and Space Force. Threats run the gamut from projectile attacks in space or anti-satellite missiles from the ground, to signal jamming and other electronic interference, to intelligence-gathering on US assets in the cosmos.

• “The need for space domain intelligence continues to increase in the face of changing missions and emerging threats,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond said in the Space Force’s planning guidance. “We will develop and expand shared strategies [with the Intelligence Community] … to detect and characterize threats, defeat attacks, and respond to aggression.”

• Former Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper raised questions about whether a space-focused center would unnecessarily duplicate work already underway at NASIC. “The National Space Intelligence Center will be an independent organization manned by highly trained space subject matter experts capable of providing quality intelligence support to space warfighters, senior leadership, and policymakers through independent and collaborative work with the National Air and Space Intelligence Center,” said Space Force spokesperson Col. Catie Hague.

• Still, it’s unclear when NASIC would come to fruition. “The Intelligence Community, through a deliberate analytical process, determined the need to establish the NASIC to provide dedicated foundational intelligence support to the USSF, senior leadership, and policy makers to increase unity of effort and effectiveness of space operations between the Department of Defense and the IC,” said Hague. “We need to think differently so we can drive things differently,” said NASIC boss Col. Maurizio D. Calabrese.

 

          Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond

The Space Force is planning its first steps toward a new intelligence center to make the great unknown a little less mysterious.

Two pieces of the National Air and Space Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, will form the basis of a new National Space Intelligence Center, Space Force spokesperson Col. Catie Hague said. Those units are the Space Analysis Squadron and Counter-Space Analysis Squadron.

The Space Force is taking custody of the two squadrons as part of the Department of the Air Force’s broad review of which units should join the new service. Air Force Magazine reported Nov. 10 that recent Space Force guidance included a plan for a National Space Intelligence Center.

     Col. Maurizio D. Calabrese

“Their designation for realignment into the Space Force is driven by their performing direct support to the space intelligence mission,” Hague said.

NASIC is tasked with offering the scientific and technical know-how to find and describe new air, space, missile,

                      Col. Catie Hague

and cyber threats facing the Air Force and Space Force. The services use that information to decide which technologies to pursue and tactics to adopt. Last year, the organization released an unclassified report, entitled “Competing in Space,” to discuss trends and challenges posed by foreign countries in that arena.

NASIC says its space roots date back to its analysis of a Soviet space launch in the 1950s. Now, some military space watchers argue a specialized NSIC would offer more comprehensive operational support to troops who need to know what challenges they face from global adversaries and objects on orbit.

Threats run the gamut from projectile attacks in space or anti-satellite missiles from the ground, to signal jamming and other electronic interference, to intelligence-gathering on U.S. assets in the cosmos.

“The need for space domain intelligence continues to increase in the face of changing missions and emerging threats,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond said in the Space Force’s planning guidance. “We will develop and expand shared strategies [with the Intelligence Community] … to detect and characterize threats, defeat attacks, and respond to aggression.”

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What a Joe Biden Presidency May Mean in Orbit and Beyond

Article by Ian Whittaker and Gareth Dorrian                                 November 11, 2020                                       (theconversation.com)

• Donald Trump set bold goals for space exploration during his time in office – from crewed missions to the Moon and Mars to a Space Force. Joe Biden has pledged to sign Executive Orders that will undo most of the Trump administration’s work – in the same way that Trump undid most of Obama’s work. But Biden has been relatively quiet on space policy. So how is space exploration likely to change going forward?

• During the Trump administration, NASA committed to the return of astronauts to the Moon in 2024 under the Artemis program. This builds on the Constellation program which was implemented by Republican president George W Bush in 2005 but was subsequently cancelled by Democratic president Barack Obama due to its high cost and difficulty.

• In a document released by the Democratic Party entitled “Building a Stronger, Fairer Economy”, the Democrats “support NASA’s work to return Americans to the Moon and go beyond to Mars, taking the next step in exploring our solar system.” Canada, the European Space Agency and Japan are all formal partners in the construction of the Lunar Gateway – a lunar orbiting outpost designed to support multiple expeditions to the Moon’s surface. It would be difficult for a Biden administration to unilaterally withdraw from the project.

• The Trump administration also pushed for a first crewed mission to Mars in the 2030s. An independent report by the Science and Technology Policy Institute in 2019 stated that a crewed Mars mission in the 2030s is currently unfeasible. It is unlikely Biden will try to resurrect this any time soon, especially since confronting the COVID-19 pandemic will likely drain discretionary funding.

• Viewing space as a potential war zone, the Trump administration formed Space Force. With a public approval rating of only 31%, Americans aren’t too impressed with the Space Force. But there are doubtlessly many difficulties of reintegrating Space Force back into the US Air Force. It is therefore likely that Space Force will remain in a Biden administration, possibly with reduced focus.

• US human spaceflight policy rarely survives a change in a Presidential administration. NASA’s chief, Jim Bridenstine, appointed by Trump, has already announced he is stepping down, saying that he wanted to let somebody with a “close relationship with the president” take over. Still, the success of the crewed SpaceX launch to the International Space Station means the commercial crew program is likely to keep running – taking the burden off NASA.

• Biden has made it clear that tackling climate emergency is a priority. While this is likely to be focused on industrial pollution limits and renewable energy sources, it does suggest that space policy could be more focused on Earth environmental observation satellite missions such as oil spills, deforestation and carbon emissions.

• Changes notwithstanding, many scientists will breath a sigh of relief at the prospect of not having to fight the kind of anti-science position that we have seen from Trump during his time in office.

 

Donald Trump set bold goals for space exploration during his time in office – from crewed missions to the Moon and Mars to a Space Force. By contrast, his successor Joe Biden has been relatively quiet on space policy. So how is space exploration likely to change going forward?

It is clear is that there will be change. NASA’s current chief, Jim Bridenstine, has already announced he is stepping down. And we know that US human spaceflight policy rarely survives a change in presidency.

That said, the amazing success of the crewed SpaceX launch to the International Space Station (ISS), however, means the commercial crew programme is likely to keep running – taking the burden off NASA. Indeed, the first operational flight of the Crew Dragon by commercial company SpaceX is due for launch on November 15, with four astronauts bound for the ISS.

During the Trump administration, NASA also committed to the return of astronauts to the Moon in 2024 under the Artemis program. This is due for its first test launch (uncrewed) next year with Artemis-1. This builds on the Constellation program which was implemented by Republican president George W Bush in 2005 but was subsequently cancelled by Democratic president Barack Obama due to its high cost and difficulty.

The only substantial clue as to the direction of a Biden presidency with regard to astronaut flights to the Moon can be found in a document by the Democratic Party entitled “Building a Stronger, Fairer Economy”. In one paragraph, the Democrats state that they “support NASA’s work to return Americans to the Moon and go beyond to Mars, taking the next step in exploring our solar system.”

No detail is offered on possible timelines. But, with international cooperation now a major feature of the Artemis program, it would be difficult for a fledgling Biden administration to unilaterally withdraw from the project. For example, Canada, the European Space Agency and Japan are all formal partners in the construction of the Lunar Gateway – a lunar orbiting outpost designed to support multiple expeditions to the surface.

The programme is also rapidly advancing research, particularly in terms of building materials, power supplies and food production. Just this week, the European Space Agency awarded a contract to the British company Metalysis to develop techniques to simultaneously extract oxygen and metals from lunar soil.

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A Conversation With US Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett

Article by Steve Forbes                                      November 13, 2020                                 (forbes.com)

• Space is a far cry from the peaceful region it was when we landed a man on the Moon over 50 years ago. China and Russia have become aggressive and space has become a theater of power politics. In response, the US created the Space Force almost a year ago, the first new military branch since the creation of the Air Force in 1947. It was Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett (pictured above) who oversaw the launch of Space Force.

• Barrett points out that the US and the global economy are totally dependent on satellites, especially the GPS. But as China has demonstrated, those satellites are vulnerable to attack. “It is a remarkable thing how completely dependent most Americans and people around the world are in our day-to-day lives on space (assets – i.e.: satellites),” said Barrett. She pointed out things that we take for granted that depend on GPS and other satellites. The time on our clocks are set by a satellite. Likewise our ATM machines and gas pumps. Weather predictions, crop monitoring, and environmental monitoring all depend on satellites.

• “[W]e built a glass house before we knew about stones, in that we have a vulnerable system,” says Barrett. “[W]e built it without consciousness of that vulnerability. So now … [w]e need to be able to protect that capability, and we need to deter others from attacking our GPS satellites. …[W] need to replace the current satellites with less vulnerable, more jam-resistant and protected satellites.”

• Forty people at a base in Colorado run the entire GPS system – free to the world. “I would put forward the GPS system… has had a bigger impact in a shorter time on all of mankind than any other invention in mankind’s time. I mean, think of fire, or the wheel, or the printing press — what would compete with the GPS system that has been fully operational just 25 years and is used by so many people around the world with so few people managing it?” asks Barrett. “It’s a remarkable reality of our time.”

• At age 13, Barrett become her family’s bread-winner for five siblings and her incapacitated mother, after the sudden death of her father. In the 1950’s, she trained as an astronaut in Kazakhstan and Russia where she learned the Russian language. She was the first civilian woman to land in an F-18 fighter aircraft on a moving aircraft carrier. She’s held executive positions in both the private and public sectors. She served as our ambassador to Finland, where she engaged in a war game dog fight in the air in an F-18 against the head of the Finnish Air Force. The joust was a draw.

• “[S]cience (and) technology, these are moving very rapidly right now, with artificial intelligence, machine learning, hypersonics, biological, nuclear, and chemical developments and training,” notes Barrett. “[W]e have to be fast and nimble… [a]nd that’s why the Space Force is being designed to be innovative, bold and agile.”

 

Almost a year ago, Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett oversaw the launch of a new branch of our military, the U.S. Space Force, the first new service since the creation of the Air Force itself in 1947.

In this sobering, eye-opening segment of What’s Ahead, Barrett persuasively explains the crucial need for a service totally focused on our needs in

There are currently 1,100 active and 2,600 inactive satellites orbiting the Earth.

space. Like it or not, space has become a cockpit of power politics, a far cry from the peaceful area it was when we landed a man on the moon over 50 years ago. China and Russia have become aggressive. Beijing, for instance, used a missile to blow up one of its satellites to show what it could do to the thousands of satellites that now populate space. Barrett describes two hair-raising, space-based incidents that occurred with Russia.

We are vulnerable. For example, the U.S. and the global economy are totally dependent on satellites, most especially the GPS, which is operated by the Space Force.

Barrett is the perfect person to get this mission off the ground. She trained in her late 50s as an astronaut in Kazakhstan and then in Russia. She had to learn Russian while simultaneously undergoing intense training. She was the first civilian woman to land in an F-18 fighter aircraft on a moving aircraft carrier. She has successfully held executive positions in both the private and public sectors. She served as our ambassador to Finland, where she engaged in a war game dog fight in the air in an F-18 against the head of the Finnish Air Force (the joust was a draw).

At age 13 Barrett had to become her family’s bread-winner—for five siblings and her incapacitated mother—after the sudden death of her father.
You’ll leave our conversation wanting to learn even more about the Space Force and about Barbara Barrett herself.

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Kennedy’s Last Stand & the Trump Card: Space Cooperation Used Against Deep State

On November 12, 1963, President Kennedy reached a bold agreement with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev: joint lunar missions to end the Cold War. While Kennedy’s earlier September 20, 1963 speech at the United Nations calling for the Soviets to cooperate on joint space missions and a moon landing is a well-known historical fact, Khrushchev’s acceptance less than two months later is virtually unknown to most.

Kennedy’s request and subsequent agreement with Khrushchev represented far more than an attempt to end Cold War tensions over the escalating number of nuclear weapons being built by the U.S. and Soviets. Kennedy was boldly attempting an end-run around the Deep State’s blockade on releasing classified UFO-related technologies that could spark worldwide advances.

On June 28, 1961, President Kennedy sent a Top Secret National Security Memorandum requesting his CIA Director, Allen Dulles, prepare for him a “review of MJ-12 Intelligence Operations as they relate to Cold War Psychological Warfare Plans.” Kennedy referred to an interagency control group called Majestic 12, which had been secretly set up on September 24, 1947, to manage the UFO-related issues and technologies. This authority placed MJ-12 at the core of the Deep State in the U.S. at that time.

While Kennedy’s June 28 Memorandum has not been officially declassified, expert examination of the leaked document supports its authenticity.

Dulles’ response to Kennedy’s memorandum is revealed in another leaked Top Secret document issued on November 5, 1961.  Dulles’ response gives an overview of the MJ-12 activities with regard to psychological activities, which he confirms involves the UFO issue. It describes UFOs as part of “Soviet propaganda” designed “to spread distrust of the government.”

Dulles’ letter acknowledges it is possible that some “UFO cases are of non-terrestrial origin,” but these do not “constitute a physical threat to national defense.” Most significantly, Dulles’ letter states: “For reasons of security, I cannot divulge pertinent data on some of the more sensitive aspects of MJ-12 activities.”

What Kennedy did not know was that in addition to denying his request and blocking his other efforts to assert Presidential authority over MJ-12 operations and UFOs, Dulles organized for MJ-12 to issue eight directives in October 1961. The Directives authorized the removal from office of members of Kennedy’s administration if they threatened MJ-12 operations.

In Kennedy’s Last Stand (2013), I document Kennedy’s multiple efforts to assert Presidential authority over the MJ-12 Group and classified UFO files. In brief, after Kennedy reached his groundbreaking agreement with Khrushchev for joint space and lunar missions, the head of the CIA’s counterintelligence division, James Jesus Angleton, implemented one of the MJ-12 directives authorizing the removal from office of political figures.

The most extreme of the eight MJ-12 directives was a cryptic assassination authorization:

Draft – Directive Regarding Project Environment – When conditions become non-conducive for growth in our environment and Washington cannot be influenced any further, the weather is lacking any precipitation … it should be wet.

Dr. Robert Wood, the foremost expert in analyzing MJ-12 documents using forensic methods, has concluded that the burned document is an assassination directive. He points out that the cryptic phrase, “it should be wet” originates from Russia, where the phrase “wet works” or “wet affairs” denotes someone who had been killed and is drenched with blood.

The implementation of Project Environment led to Kennedy’s very public assassination and served as a clear warning to other political leaders not to challenge the Deep State.

The MJ-12 Group did not want U.S. and Russian cooperation in space since this threatened to expose their covert space operations using reverse engineered technologies acquired from Nazi Germany and crashed alien spacecraft. Even more sensitive were the agreements reached with the German breakaway colony in Antarctica and different extraterrestrial groups.

In the subsequent decades, the MJ-12 Group, working through the CIA, was in control of covert operations and intelligence activities in space. This was made possible by an enormous black budget of over one trillion dollars annually that the CIA funneled into various classified programs and defense agencies such as the National Reconnaissance Office.

The Department of Defense and the President’s executive office were largely left in the dark over exactly what was happening in Earth’s orbit and beyond.

Before becoming Secretary of Defense on January 20, 2001, Donald Rumsfeld headed a Congressionally appointed National Security Commission that delivered a report recommending the creation of a Space Corps to defend the U.S. from a Space Pearl Harbor:

An attack on elements of U.S. space systems during a crisis or conflict should not be considered an improbable act. If the U.S. is to avoid a “Space Pearl Harbor” it needs to take seriously the possibility of an attack on U.S. space systems. The nation’s leaders must assure that the vulnerability of the United States is reduced and that the consequences of a surprise attack on U.S. space assets are limited in their effects….

The use of space in defense of U.S. interests may require the creation of a military department for space at some future date…

A Space Corps within the Department of the Air Force may be an appropriate model in its own right or a useful way station in the evolution toward a Space Department.

Only eight months later, on September 10, 2001, as Congressional legislation for a Space Corps was about to be unveiled, Rumsfeld revealed 2.3 trillion dollars could not be accounted for and declared the Pentagon Bureaucracy to be America’s greatest threat:

The topic today is an adversary that poses a threat, a serious threat, to the security of the United States of America. This adversary is one of the world’s last bastions of central planning, governs by dictating 5 year plans… You might think I’m describing one of the last decrepit dictators in the world, but their day too is almost past and they cannot match the strength and size of this adversary. The adversary is closer to home, it’s the Pentagon bureaucracy… In this building, despite the era of scarce resources, taxed by mounting threats, money disappears into duplicative duties, bloated bureaucracy, not because of greed but gridlock. Innovation is stifled not by ill intent but institutional inertia.

In his speech, Rumsfeld was not only identifying the reasons for the missing money, but also signaling that it could be used to fund necessary, though expensive, Pentagon initiatives such as Space Corps.

One day after his provocative speech, the September 11 (false flag) terrorist attacks embroiled America in unending Middle East wars against a contrived global terrorist threat. Consequently, the proposal for a Space Corps was shelved for nearly 20 years until the second year of Donald Trump’s Presidency.

On March 13, 2018, President Trump first introduced and, in succeeding months, formally proposed the creation of Space Force as a 6th branch of the U.S. military.

Like President Kennedy before him, Trump had a bold vision of cooperating with Russia to implement his Presidential agenda and end the new Cold War. During his first presidential election campaign, Trump made many overtures to President Putin of Russia to cooperate on a range of global issues.

Again, like Kennedy, Trump envisaged the release of new technologies to take humanity into a new era of prosperity and cooperation. This is evidenced in Trump’s 2017 inaugural address where he said:

We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.

Like Kennedy, Trump called for joint moon missions with other space-faring nations, including Russia. On December 11, 2017, President Donald Trump issued Space Policy Directive-1, which called for the return of humans to the Moon, the commercial exploitation of space, and human missions to Mars and beyond.

The Directive called for “an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities.”

Just as Kennedy had attempted an end-run around the Deep State’s opposition to him gaining access to classified UFO files, Trump’s Space Force proposal is likewise an end-run around the Deep State’s blockade on releasing classified reverse engineered technologies that could spark a global technological revolution

In addition, Trump’s creation of Space Force threatens the Deep State’s attempt to make America vulnerable to a Space Pearl Harbor by embroiling it in a never-ending war on terror. At the same time, the Deep State has been covertly helping Communist China for decades to develop antigravity spacecraft, and to build a powerful space navy, as I warn in Rise of the Red Dragon (2020).

Trump is facing massive retaliation from the Deep State over his plans for outer space cooperation, joint moon missions, ending the Cold War with Russia, and establishing a Space Force, just like Kennedy had before him.

The eight Majestic-12 directives, or some updated iteration of them, establish drastic methods that can be used to remove or take out any political leader who threaten their operations. Today, a stolen election, rather than physical assassination, is the Deep State’s solution to removing President Donald Trump, yet another troublesome leader, from political office.

The key to understanding what is happening today in America is to identify the mysterious group behind the Kennedy Assassination, and how its modern-day manifestation is covertly attempting to remove Trump from the presidency for his efforts to similarly build international cooperation around a number of space-related initiatives.

November 22 will mark the 57th anniversary of the Kennedy Assassination. The real perpetrators skillfully remained in the shadows and were never prosecuted for their crime. Thus, their successors continue to plot and implement Deep State agendas tracing back to the original eight MJ-12 directives.

[Note: To learn more about President Kennedy’s assassination, the group behind it, and why this information critically links to President Trump’s epic battle today, I will be holding a Webinar Intensive on Sunday, November 22, 2020 – click here or banner below for more info].

© Michael E. Salla, Ph.D. Copyright Notice

Further Reading

 

Defense Officials Highlight Space Force’s Achievements, Path Forward

Article by Charles Pope                                     October 29, 2020                                  (spaceforce.mil)

• On October 28th, Department of the Air Force Secretary, Barbara M. Barrett, described in stark terms how the shifting security environment in space is validating the nation’s new Space Force military branch. “Increasingly, free and open access to space is under threat. Though the United States will not be the aggressor in space, we will, we must, build a Space Force to defend our space interests,” Barrett said in a virtual address at Space Symposium 365, an influential gathering of space advocates from government, commerce and defense sponsored by the Space Foundation.

• Barrett was joined by Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, highlighting the mounting threats in space. “Last year, Russia maneuvered an ‘inspector satellite’ into an orbit threateningly close to a sensitive US satellite. And just two months ago, China launched and recovered a reusable space plane … suspiciously similar to our own space plane, the X-37B.”

• As space is becoming more crowded and contested, it became necessary to establish Space Force as “purpose built” to meet its missions and responsibilities in space. “We set out for this first year to invent the force. And I use that term ‘invent’ purposefully because we were given an opportunity to start with a clean sheet of paper and not do business the way we’ve done in the past,” said Raymond.

• “On all fronts—on organization, on personnel, on doctrine, on budget—we have tried to think differently and be an incubator for change across the department, while delivering goodness and value to our nation,” Raymond continued. The goal is to form a “lean and agile” digital service that, while the smallest of all the military services, delivers on a much bigger scale. This demands a “forward leaning, forward looking strategy.”

• The result is a command structure that fights bloat and inefficiency in which the field command organizational structure has “collapsed two layers of command”. Efficiency is also displayed in an acquisition process “that delegates authority down to the lowest level, shortening the gap between approval authority and those who are actually doing the work,” said Raymond. “Big organizations are slow and we don’t want to be slow.”

• As Space Force approaches its first anniversary on December 20th, the service is evolving from establishing foundational elements of policies and doctrines to actually ‘inventing’ the force. Today, the Space Force numbers more than 2,000 men and women. At full strength, Space Force is expected to have about 16,000 people. The work ahead is challenging, with a relentless need to go fast. Other goals include revising the acquisition system and re-evaluating how information and hardware are classified. “We don’t deter (aggressor nations) from their negative behavior if they don’t know what our (military hardware) capabilities are,” said Barrett. “We reveal to deter, and conceal to win.”

• As the session came to a close, Barrett suggested that perhaps the biggest Space Force achievement to date is the public’s increasing understanding that space is important and it must be protected. “A year ago, Space Force was an idea,” said Barrett. “There’s been a big mindset change, and we’ve got to build on that … to achieve what people now agree needs to be done.”

 

         Gen. John “Jay” Raymond

ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) — Department of the Air Force Secretary, Barbara M. Barrett, offered an upbeat assessment Oct. 28 of the Space Force’s development while also describing in stark terms how the shifting security environment in space is validating the nation’s newest branch of the military.

“Increasingly, free and open access to space is under threat. Though the United States will not be the aggressor in space, we will, we must, build a Space Force to defend our space interests,” Barrett said in a virtual address at Space Symposium 365, an influential gathering of space advocates from government, commerce and defense sponsored by the Space Foundation.

                  Barbara M. Barrett

Barrett, who was joined by Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, underscored that assertion by highlighting activities and threats in space that in the past had been given less emphasis.

“Last year, Russia maneuvered an ‘inspector satellite’ into an orbit threateningly close to a sensitive U.S. satellite. And just two months ago, China launched and recovered a reusable space plane … suspiciously similar to our own space plane, the X-37B.”

That environment, and the fact that space is becoming more crowded and contested, coincide with the creation of the first new and independent branch of the military since 1947. Together, Barrett and Raymond provided a detailed status report on the Space Force as it approaches its first anniversary and looks to the future.

“We set out for this first year to invent the force. And I use that term ‘invent’ purposefully because we were given an opportunity to start with a clean sheet of paper and not do business the way we’ve done in the past,” Raymond said, describing the Space Force as “purpose built” to meet its missions and responsibilities in space.

“On all fronts—on organization, on personnel, on doctrine, on budget—we have tried to think differently and be an incubator for change across the department, while delivering goodness and value to our nation,” he said.

The goal, Raymond said, is to form a “lean and agile” digital service that, while the smallest of all the military services, delivers on a much bigger scale. This demands a “human capital development strategy … a forward leaning, forward looking strategy.”

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Space Force Sets Priorities to Prevent Future Space War & Maintain U.S. Dominance

On November 9, General Jay Raymond, the U.S. Space Force’s Chief of Space Operations, released a foundational document outlining the new military service’s priorities and management practices for the U.S. to remain ahead of its major adversaries in space. The 12-page document, “Chief of Space Operations Planning Guidance” (CPG), makes clear that space is now viewed as a “warfighting domain”, and that in order for the U.S. to maintain dominance and deter hostile actions, it needs to take immediate action to integrate, equip, train, and organize its military space assets.

General Raymond warns about the danger posed by major adversaries, such as China and Russia, that have developed sophisticated anti-satellite technologies capable of disrupting or destroying the U.S. satellite grid. Such a possibility was first outlined in a January 11, 2001, Space Commission Report, chaired by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, warning about a “Space Pearl Harbor” and the need for a new military service to prevent it

 General Raymond begins his Planning Guidance document by explaining how space has shifted from a benign security environment to one where warfare can be expected in the near future:

The Space Force has a mandate in national strategy, policy, and law to be both pathfinder and protector of America’s interests as a space-faring nation. The convergence of proliferating technology and competitive interests has forever re-defined space from a benign domain to one in which we anticipate all aspects of human endeavor – including warfare. The return of peer, great power competitors has dramatically changed the global security environment and space is central to that change (CPG, p.1).

According to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, space was considered to be a peaceful domain for scientific exploration. No country was allowed to station military forces or weapons in space, the Moon, or other celestial objects. General Raymond is here acknowledging that recent developments such as Russia and China’s deployment of a range of anti-satellite weapons systems mean that space is no longer a benign environment, and that preventative military measures need to be taken.

He goes on to explain how the Space Force can prepare for future warfare in space:

The United States Space Force is called to organize, train, equip, and present forces capable of preserving America’s freedom of action in space; enabling Joint Force lethality and effectiveness; and providing independent options – in, from, and to space… While we will extend and defend America’s competitive advantage in peacetime, the ultimate measure of our readiness is the ability to prevail should war initiate in, or extend to space (CPG, p.1).

Deterring major adversaries from launching military hostilities is explained as a key priority in order not to lose U.S. space dominance:

America needs a Space Force able to deter conflict, and if deterrence fails, prevail should war initiate in or extend to space. Space capabilities enhance the potency of all other military forces. Our National leadership requires resilient and assured military space capabilities for sustained advantage in peaceful competition, or decisive advantage in conflict or war….

The change in the geo-strategic and operating environment that compelled the creation of the Space Force means that many of our legacy space capabilities must be reevaluated for ongoing relevance. Let me be clear – if we do not adapt to outpace aggressive competitors, we will likely lose our peacetime and warfighting advantage in space (CPG, p.2).

China and Russia are both viewed as the primary adversaries capable of militarily destroying the U.S. satellite grid in a future war or in a surprise attack, a Space Pearl Harbor:

Chinese and Russian military doctrines indicate they view space as essential to modern warfare, and view counterspace capabilities as potent means to reduce U.S. and allied military effectiveness. Modern Chinese and Russian space surveillance networks are capable of finding, tracking, and characterizing satellites in all earth orbits. Both Russia and China are developing systems using the electro-magnetic spectrum, cyberspace, directed energy, on-orbit capabilities, and ground-based antisatellite missiles to destroy space-based assets (CPG, p.2).

 From the perspective of China’s Communist Party leadership, as I explain in Rise of the Red Dragon (2020), China is merely catching up to what the United States (and Russia) had already secretly developed and deployed in space decades earlier.

Not surprisingly, General Raymond emphasizes developing breakthrough space technologies in dealing with potential military conflict:

Space Force will use strategic investments to cultivate a strong, diverse and competitive American space industrial base. Civil and commercial developments that pave the way for exploration and commercialization beyond near-Earth orbit will both generate technology that benefits the USSF and require an order of magnitude expansion of our ability to sense, communicate and act to protect and defend American interests in cis-lunar space and beyond. (CPG, p.9).

General Raymond is here suggesting major aerospace defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Boeing, etc., will play vital roles in developing breakthrough space technologies that can be used to deter adversaries in space. While development of breakthrough space technologies is framed as a future need, the reality is that such technologies have already been secretly developed by major aerospace companies. The produced technologies have been subsequently sold off to different “customers” such as U.S. military commands, intelligence agencies, and major allies for decades.

Extensive testimonial and documentary evidence is presented in my Secret Space Programs book series showing how the U.S. Air Force and the Navy developed separate secret space programs in response to earlier developments in Nazi Germany that carried over into the post-war era. As a result of decades-long cooperation with major corporations in reverse engineering captured Nazi and alien spacecraft, advanced anti-gravity spacecraft and electromagnetic weapons systems were developed and deployed by different entities within the US national security establishment.

The critical requirement for gaining access to such breakthrough aerospace technologies by a U.S. military service, combatant command, or intelligence agency was to demonstrate a clear need for such advanced technologies for completing space-related missions.

As long as space was considered a benign environment, then this favored the acquisition of reverse-engineered technologies by intelligence services or special operations groups that used space for intelligence gathering or small-scale covert operations. The bulk of breakthrough aerospace technologies would consequently go to defense intelligence entities such as the National Reconnaissance Office, CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and covert groups such as Air Force Special Operations and Special Operations Command.

Even U.S. Space Command (1985-2002) and Air Force Space Command (1982-2019) would be  limited in how much access they had to such breakthrough “black world” technologies as acknowledged in a comprehensive 1996 Intelligence Commission report to the US Congress:

Two organizations within the Department of Defense manage space assets: the U.S. Space Command (SPACECOM) is responsible for so-called “white world” satellites (i.e., satellites that are publicly acknowledged) for military programs, and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) deals with “black world” (i.e., classified) satellites for intelligence programs. SPACECOM launches and operates satellites for military communication, weather and navigation, which are designed and procured by the military services. NRO designs, acquires, launches, and operates classified reconnaissance satellites.

The Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and the unified combatant commanders, with the notable exceptions of Special Operations Command and (Air Force) Space Command, were largely denied access. This was because major military space operations were deemed unnecessary due to space being considered a benign environment, and such operations violating international space law.

All that changes with General Raymond’s Planning Guidance document, which expands upon President Donald Trump’s earlier Space Policy Directive 4 which made space a hostile environment requiring defense of America’s space assets. Space is now considered a war fighting domain where large scale military operations may be necessary to protect the U.S. satellite grid. This means that breakthrough corporate technologies that previously were denied to the different military services due to their high-level security classification and international space law constraints, are now permitted either through Space Force (which incorporates the former USAF Space Command) or U.S. Space Command, both of which were respectively created or reconstituted in 2019.

General Raymond emphasizes the haste with which these advanced technologies should now be incorporated into Space Force and for immediate action to be taken to protect the U.S. satellite grid:

The strategic environment demands we act boldly now to build a Service designed to act with speed and decisiveness to ensure the United States maintains its advantage in the domain….This CPG identifies those characteristics and capabilities within the force that must evolve. We do not have the luxury of delay for further analysis. (CPG, p.9).

Raymond’s thinking is mirrored in recent statements by the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, Barbara Barret, calling for declassifying many space technologies kept hidden from the general public and even from different elements of the Air Force itself. On December 7, 2019, she declared:

Declassifying some of what is currently held in secure vaults would be a good idea… You would have to be careful about what we declassify, but there is much more classified than what needs to be.

In conclusion, redefining space as a warfighting domain means that formerly highly classified technologies developed by corporations and military laboratories for exclusive use by the intelligence and special operations communities will be acquired by Space Force. These advanced space technologies will be made available for large scale deployment in future space combat operations.

The release of General Raymond’s “Planning Guidance” document makes it highly likely that soon after Space Force is fully set up by May 2021 (the end of its 18 months set up period), we are likely to witness the official disclosure of multiple highly classified aerospace technologies, including anti-gravity propulsion systems, acquired by Space Force. The release of such advanced technologies will revolutionize the civilian transportation industry and military defense and take our planet into an exciting but dangerous new age.

© Michael E. Salla, Ph.D. Copyright Notice

[An audio version of this article is available here]

Further Reading

Space Force’s Gen. Raymond Charts Service’s Galactic Mission

Article by David Vergun                                  October 22, 2020                                 (defense.gov)

• “A war that begins or extends into space will be fought over great distances at tremendous speeds, posing significant challenges.” This is among the remarks that Space Force Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond (pictured above) provided at the virtual Air Force Rapid Sustainment Office Advanced Manufacturing Olympics on October 22nd. Noting the challenges of the ‘Great Power’ competition with Russia and China, Raymond outlined Space Force’s role in the National Defense Strategy. “Today, we’re entering a defining period for this country in space. Our nation is leading an expansive spirit of space exploration and experimentation.”

• Space Force’s area of responsibility extends from 100 kilometers above Earth’s surface to the outer edge of the universe. On-orbit capabilities move at speeds greater than 17,500 miles per hour. Direct ascent and satellite missiles can reach low-Earth orbit in a matter of minutes. Electronic attack and directed-energy weapons move at the speed of light.

• Raymond said his guidance to Space Force’s military professionals is to be bold, innovative; use the outstanding talent the service has; and be lean, agile and fast. “Since establishment, we have slashed bureaucracy, delegated authority and enhanced accountability,” he said. Space Force is working with industry and academia to find the “disruptive innovators and incubators for change.” (‘Disruptive’ means innovations that are new, and not simply upgrades or retooling old technologies.) “Today our space capabilities are, by far, the best in the world,” said Raymond. “But they were built for an uncontested domain.”

• The U.S. needs a more defensible architecture, one that is equipped for offensive operations should deterrence fail. All of this capability has to come at an affordable price. Advanced manufacturing is rapidly transforming the way space capabilities are designed and delivered. Spacecraft fuel tanks, antennas, structures and engines are already being produced via techniques with materials uniquely tailored for space. “These technologies allow us to move rapidly from capability design to prototyping,” said Raymond.

• Raymond points out that America is a spacefaring nation and has long led military, civil and commercial space centers. “Today, we’re entering a defining period for this country in space. Our nation is leading an expansive spirit of space exploration and experimentation. And we are strongest when space is secure, stable and accessible to enterprising Americans for scientific, economic and security interests.”

 

The chief of space operations and commander of U.S. Space Command discussed challenges the U.S. is facing in space and the Space Force’s efforts to address them.

Space Force Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, provided remarks from the Pentagon today at the virtual Air Force Rapid Sustainment Office Advanced Manufacturing Olympics today.

“A war that begins or extends into space will be fought over great distances at tremendous speeds, posing significant challenges,” said Raymond, noting Great Power competition with Russia and China, outlined in the National Defense Strategy, which could pose future challenges.

Spacecom’s area of responsibility extends from 100 kilometers above Earth’s surface to the outer edge of the universe, he noted.

Today, we’re entering a defining period for this country in space. Our nation is leading an expansive spirit of space exploration and experimentation.”
Space Force Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, commander, U.S. Space Command

On-orbit capabilities move at speeds greater than 17,500 miles per hour. Direct ascent and satellite missiles can reach low-Earth orbit in a matter of minutes, Raymond said. Electronic attack and directed-energy weapons move at the speed of light.

In response, Raymond provided a galactic roadmap to what his service is doing. He said his guidance to Space Force’s space professionals at all levels is to be bold, innovative; use the outstanding talent the service has; and be lean, agile and fast.

“Since establishment, we have slashed bureaucracy, delegated authority and enhanced accountability,” he said.

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Space Force Swears in First Recruits

Article by Steve Beynon                                October 20, 2020                                (stripes.com)

• Space Force has roughly 2,000 “space professionals” serving in the military branch at the moment. While all of these members were transfers from the Air Force, the first seven enlisted Space Force recruits were sworn in Tuesday by Gen. David Thompson, the vice chief of space operations.

• “Today is an important milestone as we stand up the Space Force,” Thompson said in a statement. “Until now, we’ve been focused on building our initial ranks with transfers from the Air Force. With these new recruits, we begin to look to the future of our force by bringing in the right people directly to realize our aspirations of building a tech-savvy service that’s reflective of the nation we serve.”

• Among the recruits, two are women and five are men, two are Black and five are white. They are from Colorado, Maryland, and Virginia, and range in age from 18 to 31. All seven of the new recruits hold a 1C6 military occupation specialty — space systems operations, according to Lynn Kirby, a Space Force spokeswoman. The job focuses on detecting sea-launched ballistic missiles and tracking satellites to assisting in rocket launches and space flight operations.

• After being sworn in at Baltimore Military Entrance Processing Station at Fort Meade, Md., the Space Force recruits are bound for seven and a half weeks of Air Force basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio. As there are no Space Force recruiting stations yet, the Air Force is recruiting for both branches. Space Force hopes to recruit 300 enlisted service members in 2021, and along with Air Force transfers, they hope to have 6,500 members overall within a year.

• “We’re excited to see this happen,” said Chief Master Sgt. Roger A. Towberman, senior enlisted adviser for Space Force. “The Air Force team at basic military training has been outstanding and deserves most of the credit for making this happen quickly. To watch these first Space Force recruits take their oath for the first time is something I will never forget. They are the future, and it’s incredible to be in their service!”

 

    Gen. David Thompson

WASHINGTON — The first seven recruits for Space Force, the military’s newest service branch, were sworn in Tuesday by Gen. David Thompson, the vice chief of space operations.

 Chief Master Sgt. Roger A. Towberman

Space Force has roughly 2,000 “space professionals” serving. Until now, all the branch’s members were transfers from the Air Force. These new recruits are the first service members to enlist directly into Space Force.

“Today is an important milestone as we stand up the Space Force,” Thompson said in a statement. “Until now, we’ve been focused on building our initial ranks with transfers from the Air Force. With these new recruits, we begin to look to the future of our force by bringing in the right people directly to realize our aspirations of building a tech-savvy service that’s reflective of the nation we serve.”

The new recruits all hold the 1C6 military occupation specialty — space systems operations, according to Lynn Kirby, a Space Force spokeswoman. The job focuses on detecting sea-launched ballistic missiles and tracking satellites to assisting in rocket launches and space flight operations.

“Space Force leadership has previously stated diversity among its ranks is one of its priorities in standing up the new service,” according to a service statement.

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Space Force Built for War?

Article by Ryan Faith                                   October 16, 2020                                  (realcleardefense.com)

• Space Force keeps a tight lid on its military intentions. Therefore, Russian or Chinese space warfare theorists might assume that a ‘kinetic’ (ie: shooting) war could be in the works. As in the US Air Force, the purveyors of kinetic mayhem tend to be culturally dominant. And Space Force has been no exception. These kinetic mayhem purveyors present a louder, more muscular, aggressive face of the Space Force. The non-kinetic approaches to space dominance get little discussion. The overall message suggests a Space Force with a strong bias towards kinetic warfare.

• At the same time, the US Space Force does not discuss the activities of its potential foes, and publicly there’s little to suggest that US opponents are hostile and aggressive. This makes the cultural bias in Space Force towards kinetic action appear to be an itchy trigger finger, not a response to real-life aggression.

• Kinetic action in space comes with an immense risk associated with orbital debris. In 2007, China demonstrated an anti-satellite weapon, and created more than 3,000 bits of space shrapnel in space. At immense orbital speeds, an impact by even a small bit of debris can have a devastating effect. This in turn creates more orbital debris in a sort of feedback effect called the Kessler Syndrome. This in itself creates some talk of strategic deterrent to an orbital debris chain-reaction that results in unintentional mutually assured response and destruction.

• The US Space Force would probably benefit by clarifying that a kinetic response must be in response to a legitimate threat or attack. Secondly, the US has a variety of tools at its disposal to manage the escalation of a space conflict without blowing a space asset to smithereens.

• But these suggestions are just a small part of the extensive political-social-media context of space operations as the backdrop to combat operations for the foreseeable future. The reality of a space conflict today may be a matter of winning the security battle versus losing the messaging war tomorrow.

 

If I were a Russian or Chinese space warfare theorist, thinking about a future war with the United States, it might be reasonable to bet that the newly-minted U.S. Space Force was planning for a kinetic space conflict, starting on Day 1.

Understandably, the Space Force keeps a tight lid on broader discussions of its capabilities. There isn’t a lot of direct information one way or another. Without a clear understanding of what the U.S. can do, an analyst might start trying to figure out U.S. intentions.

The culture of the Space Force might still be unformed and changing; it does bear at least a family resemblance to its sister services in at least one significant respect. In the services, the purveyors of kinetic mayhem — the shooters and the killers — tend to be culturally dominant within their respective services. The Space Force has been no exception to this.

Whether or not the Space Force shooters want to or not, they present a louder, more muscular, aggressive face of the Space Force. Conversely, non-kinetic approaches to space dominance get little discussion indeed.

Between the relative boldness of the kinetic space warfare community and the comparative silence of the non-kinetic warfare practitioners, the overall message suggests a Space Force with a strong bias towards kinetic warfare.

Compounding this problem, the USSF does not speak a lot about the activities of its potential foes. In public discussion, there’s little to suggest that U.S. opponents are hostile and aggressive and that need a muscular response. Keeping malicious actions secret makes the cultural bias towards kinetic action appear spontaneous — that it is not a response to unfortunate real-life conditions, but more of an itchy trigger finger.

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Space Force Developing Offensive Capabilities in Space

Article by Frank Wolfe                                       October 19, 2020                                   (satellitetoday.com)

• In 1958, the United States was the first nation to test an ‘Anti-Satellite’ (ASAT) weapon, launched from a bomber. Since then, Russia, China, and India have demonstrated their abilities to destroy orbiting satellites as well. US Air Force and Space Force officials have largely promoted the resilience and redundancy of US space assets and protecting them from enemy attacks. At last year’s Space Symposium, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein stated, “If …your country is interested in participating in manned spaceflight, then you should not be …creating (a) risk to manned spaceflight. So demonstrating any capability that would create more (dangerous space) debris, in my mind, is a step in the wrong direction.”

• That type of thinking may have changed in 2007 when the Chinese demonstrated their anti-satellite weaponry on one of their own satellites, creating a swarm of space debris. “That was a clarifying event,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, Space Force’s deputy chief of space operations. “I can almost chart from there the establishment of the Space Force, because suddenly space was contested.” “[T]hat kinetic attack on a satellite really shook the foundations that this is no longer a benign environment, and we started asking the questions about are we properly structured and organized and doing the right kinds of things to be able to maintain our advantage.”

• “[T]o some degree, the aggressive behavior of our competitors has clarified what we need to do as a nation and in the Department of Defense,” Saltzman continued. “They awoke the great giant that is the United States. [W]e are now moving rapidly toward developing capability to ensure that we maintain that strategic advantage…for a long time.” “I think the best defense sometimes is a good offense.”

• In April, after Russia tested a direct-ascent ASAT, John “Jay” Raymond, the Space Force’s chief of space operations, called it “further proof of Russia’s hypocritical advocacy of outer space arms control proposals designed to restrict the capabilities of the United States, while clearly having no intention of halting their counter-space weapons programs.”

• A recent ‘Roadmap for Assessing Space Weapons’ report from Aerospace Corporation‘s Center for Space Policy and Strategy said that the U.S. should not rush headlong into the development of new space weapons. “To avoid Russia and China imposing unnecessary costs on the United States, US decisions on space weapons should not be made simply in reaction to China and Russia’s space weaponization. US decisions on space weapons require an exhaustive comparative analysis of the value to US national security to develop, build, and deploy any type of space weapon, and the downsides to such a decision. Is the United States better off with or without space weapons of any type? …The analysis might lead to a conclusion that certain types of weapons or certain functions of such weapons are advantageous while others are not.”

 

 Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein

The U.S was the first nation to test Anti-Satellite (ASAT) weapons in 1958 with bomber-launched ASATs, and three other nations have demonstrated the ability to destroy orbiting satellites — Russia, China, and, most recently, India, with a test in March last year. Officials from the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space Force have largely confined themselves to talking about building the resilience and redundancy of U.S. space assets and protecting them from enemy attacks, such as ASATs.

At last year’s Space Symposium, Air Force leaders discussed space deterrence through a lens of rapid response to adversary actions, and then Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told Via Satellite sister publication Defense Daily that an ASAT test “absolutely isn’t the way” to demonstrate a space deterrent capability.

  Air Force Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman

“If you take the long view and your country is interested in participating in manned spaceflight, then you should not be contributing in any way, shape or form to creating risk to manned spaceflight,” he said. “So demonstrating any capability that would create more debris, in my mind, is a step in the wrong direction.”

That thinking may be changing.

                John “Jay” Raymond

“I was on the ops floor in 2007 when the Chinese shot their own satellite down,” Air Force Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, Space Force’s deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber, and nuclear, said during an Oct. 16 Aerospace Nation forum sponsored by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “That was a clarifying event, and I can almost chart from there the establishment of the Space Force because suddenly space was contested.”

“We knew there was other kinds of [space] contesting going on, but that kinetic attack on a satellite really shook the foundations that this is no longer a benign environment, and we started asking the questions about are we properly structured and organized and doing the right kinds of things to be able to maintain our advantage,” Saltzman said.

“And so, to some degree, the aggressive behavior of our competitors has clarified what we need to do as a nation and in the Department of Defense,” he said. “They awoke the great giant that is the United States, and we are now moving rapidly toward developing capability to ensure that we maintain that strategic advantage. We’re going to be able to compete in that area for a long time.”

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The US Coast Guard’s Future is in Outer Space

Article by Michael Sinclair                                    October 15, 2020                                    (brookings.edu)

• The Coast Guard serves as the United States’ Arctic governance presence. This requires of the Coast Guard the ability to communicate ‘over-the-horizon’. In December 2018, teamed up with the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Division and SpaceX to launch two small cube satellites (“cubesats”) — Yukon and Kodiak — over the Arctic as part of the ‘Polar Scout program’. While the Coast Guard lost its communications link to the satellites shortly after their launch, the fact that the service looked to space to meet its mission objective is a forerunner of things to come.

• These two cubesats were intended to serve as the vanguard of enhanced telecommunications coverage in the Arctic. As the warming climate melts the ice at the north pole, this increases the international shipping access by the US, Russia and China. This increases the strategic significance of the Arctic, and the need for increased governance.

• The second great Space Age will be turbo-charged by computer processing and commercial space markets. The Coast Guard should take advantage of the increasingly affordable access to space that commercial space opportunities provide. Space-based surveillance can assist with many Coast Guard missions including maritime law/drug enforcement, intelligence, buoy tending, vessel traffic management, and icebreaking. Coast Guard icebreaker vessels should serve as ocean station sentinels. And the Coast Guard should add additional satellite link stations such as the one in New London, Connecticut.

• Next, the Coast Guard should develop a ‘Space Operations Strategic Outlook’ to establish space competencies across the entire Coast Guard. The 2019 Coast Guard Authorization Act includes statutory language that would extend Coast Guard ‘Captain of the Port Authority’ beyond its twelve nautical-mile limit to facilitate safe and secure space operation support at sea. The Coast Guard should partner with Space Force to provide space ‘search and rescue’.

• Government, military and commercial space entities fully intend a rapid increase in human space flight. Space Force should have the capability to render assistance to distressed space farers. This is consistent with the Outer Space Treaty and the Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, both to which the United States is party. Currently, there is no specific statute authorizing a US agency to conduct such rescue operations in space. The Coast Guard’s broad search and rescue would provide excellent models for developing a foundation for the Coast Guard assist with Space Force/Space Command in space-based search and rescue operations.

• On their face, “outer space” and the “Coast Guard” are two terms that do not seem to have much in common. But with the ready access to space in the 21st century, now is the time for the Coast Guard to consider how to alter its planning to capitalize on the opportunities and to meet future challenges in space.

 

In December 2018, the U.S. Coast Guard joined the space faring community. It teamed up with the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Division and SpaceX to execute the launch of two small cube satellites (“cubesats”) — Yukon and Kodiak — as part of the Polar Scout program.

These two cubesats were intended to serve as the vanguard of enhanced telecommunications coverage in the Arctic, a domain that has always been important but is of increasing strategic significance today because it is at the intersection of great power competition and global climate change. In short, a warmer climate results in greater access; greater access results in greater maritime traffic, including by Russia and China. The Chinese, in particular, are constantly pressing to exploit resources the world over, be it living marine or hydrocarbon-based. Likewise, greater traffic means more need for increased governance presence to ensure safe, rules-based operations within the Arctic.

The Coast Guard is statutorily charged with serving as the United States’ Arctic governance presence. This means the Coast Guard increasingly requires the ability to communicate over-the-horizon — thus, Polar Scout. And while the Coast Guard lost linkage to Yukon and Kodiak shortly after launch, the mere fact that the service had the vision to go boldly to the heavens to meet that need should be a forerunner of things to come.

THE KEY QUESTIONS

Space issues are a hot topic in 2020. Indeed, we are at the start of a second great space age, one that is shaping up to be turbo-charged by the commercial market and the seemingly never-ending, exponentially increasing power of computer processing. The United States is pursuing the Artemis Accords, the Space Force is getting off the ground, NASA is looking towards Mars (but first to the moon! To stay!), and commercial space pursuits are booming. The Coast Guard has already gotten in the game, but it must continue to seriously consider space as it develops budgets and strategies for the future.

To succeed as an information-age military service and total-domain governance agency in the 21st century, the Coast Guard should view space through three lenses. First, how can the service best capitalize on cheap, ready access to space to facilitate its missions, as it had already started to do so with the Polar Scout launches? Second, how do commercial space efforts interact with the maritime industry and maritime domain; and to what extent, if any, does the Coast Guard need to adjust or modify its extensive suite of operating authorities and regulations to ensure that any risk to the safety and security of the maritime is adequately addressed? And third, how can the Coast Guard, as part of the joint force, assist the Space Force in executing the latter’s own responsibilities?

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Did Trump Threaten Aliens With Military Action?

Article by Kyle Mizokami                                October 14, 2020                                 (popularmechanics.com)

• On October 11th, Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo asked Trump, “Can you explain why the Department of Defense has set up a UFO task force? Are there UFOs?” “Well, I’m going to have to check on that,” Trump replied. Trump then took the opportunity to boast about the power of the U.S. military. In August, the Pentagon established an official ‘UAP Task Force’ to investigate UFO sightings, following confirmed UFO sightings by US Navy pilots between 2004 and 2014.

• “I will tell you this,” said Trump. “We have now created a military the likes of which we have never had before. In terms of equipment, the equipment we have, the weapons we have, and hope to God we never have to use it. But have created a military the likes of which nobody has, nobody has, ever had. Russia, China, they’re all envious of what we had. All built in the USA. We’ve rebuilt it all—$2.5 trillion dollars. As far as the other question I’ll check on it, I heard about it two days ago actually.”

• So what, exactly, was Trump getting at in this interview? Was this just about touting the $2.5 trillion Trump spent on defense with no real increase in America’s overall military strength and number of weapons? Or was it about warning extraterrestrial forces – or more likely, the foreign governments behind the UAPs that the Pentagon is investigating – with military action? If Trump considers aliens a threat, that would likely explain the sudden rush to establish the Space Force.

• Could the Pentagon fend off a UFO attack? It seems unlikely. Even America’s most high-tech military hardware and the thousands of nuclear weapons that make up our strategic nuclear forces would almost certainly be powerless against any technology advanced enough to travel between stars.

• Consider the progress in weapons technology over the last 200 years. Military forces of the 1820s, complete with muskets, horses, and field guns, would stand no chance against the armed forces of the 2020s. Alien civilizations could easily be thousands, or even millions, of years more advanced, with weapons that might seem miraculous to us. The unfortunate truth is Earth is likely ripe for the taking by any alien race technologically advanced enough to travel here.

• If anyone on this planet knows the real truth about UFOs and extraterrestrial life, it would be the President of the United States. So what might Trump someday reveal?

 

President Donald Trump, when asked about a new Pentagon task force for studying UFOs, replied that he would look into it—and then began boasting about the power of the U.S. military. Some observers saw this as Trump touting his funding of the Department of Defense, while others saw it as a threat to extraterrestrial beings.

       Donald Trump / Maria Bartiromo

In an interview on Sunday, Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo asked Trump, “Can you explain why the Department of Defense has set up a UFO task force? Are there UFOs?”

“Well, I’m going to have to check on that,” Trump replied. “I mean, I’ve heard that. I heard that two days ago. So I’ll check on that. I’ll take a good, strong look at that.”

Trump then went on to talk about the U.S. military: “I will tell you this: We have now created a military the likes of which we have never had before. In terms of equipment, the—the equipment we have, the weapons we have, and hope to god we never have to use it. But have created a military the likes of which nobody has, nobody has, ever had. Russia, China, they’re all envious of what we had. All built in the USA. We’ve rebuilt it all—$2.5 trillion dollars. As far as the other question I’ll check on it, I heard about it two days ago actually.”

In August, the Pentagon established an official task force to investigate UFO sightings, following confirmed UFO sightings by U.S. Navy pilots between 2004 and 2014. The Pentagon’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Task Force (UAPTF) will investigate the sightings of UAPs, also known as UFOs.

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Virginia Rocket Launch Site is About to Grow With the Most Successful Startup Since SpaceX

Article by Christian Davenport                                   October 2, 2020                                (washingtonpost.com)

• Over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, down past Chincoteague toward the southern tip of the Eastern Shore, sits an isolated spit of shoreline near a wildlife refuge. Wallops Island, Virginia is home to one of the most unusual and little known rocket launch sites in the country.

• Wallops Island contained a naval air station during World War II. In the late 1950s, with the dawn of the Space Age, the air station morphed into the Wallops Flight Facility, serving as a test site for the Mercury space program. The facility has now reinvented itself yet again as a modern commercial space industry rocket hub launching national security missions for Rocket Lab, and is soon to launch missions to the International Space Station for Northrop Grumman. The Wallops facility is poised to become the second busiest launch site in the country, behind Cape Canaveral, which itself is on track to launch 39 rockets into orbit this year.

• Over the last 25 years, the state of Virginia has pumped $250M into the ‘Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’. In addition, NASA has made $15.7M in upgrades to the site, including a mission operations control center, which opened in 2018. The state also contributed $15M to repair a launch pad after an Antares rocket exploded in 2014.

• Perhaps the most successful space upstart since Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Rocket Lab first considered Cape Canaveral. But Wallops was the winner because it had a facility nearby where the company could process its payloads, get the satellites ready for launch and then mate them to a rocket quickly. “The whole facility is designed for rapid launch,” said Rocket Lab CEO, Peter Beck. “And that’s a real requirement out there right now from our national security and national defense forces, to have an ability to respond to threats quickly.”

• At 60 feet tall, Rocket Lab’s ‘Electron’ rocket may be about a quarter of the size of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. But the company hopes it will be a workhorse, launching once a month from Wallops, in flights that should be visible up and down the Mid-Atlantic. The Electron rocket has already had 14 successful launches to orbit from its launch site in New Zealand, earning a reputation for quick turnaround in an industry where getting rockets ready to fly was once a months-long endeavor. The Pentagon and NASA have taken notice.

• NASA has hired Rocket Lab to launch a small satellite to the Moon in 2021 to gather data about the thin lunar atmosphere, as a precursor for human missions. Instead of launching large, expensive satellites that stay in orbit for years and are targets for potential adversaries, the Pentagon is interested in putting up swarms of smaller, inexpensive satellites that could be easily replaced. Both NASA and DARPA are looking at Rocket Lab’s Wallops facility as a launch base having the desired short turnaround time between launches.

• While the number of launches at Wallops now is relatively low, the cadence could grow dramatically, especially as Rocket Lab gets going. And Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, chief of space operations for the US Space Force, has made it clear the department wants to rely heavily on the private sector. “We have developed a significant amount of partnerships in the national security space business,” said General Raymond during a recent event. “We share some of those partners. We share an industrial base.”

• Wallops wants to capitalize on the growth says Dale Nash, CEO and executive director of Virginia Space. “[W]e can get a few more launchpads close together in here.” “We’re urbanizing.” “One launch a month will not be a big deal.” “Once a week, once we get going, won’t be a big deal either. … We have the capability to grow to 50 or 60 launches a year.”

• Richard Branson has also gotten into the small rocket business with ‘Virgin Orbit’ that would launch a small rocket by dropping it from the wing of a 747 airplane. But while the space industry has made strides, there are still more failures than successes, especially in the early attempts to build small rockets. Rocket Lab has been the unlikely success story. Founded by Peter Beck in 2006, it today has a significant backlog of launches.

• Initially, Beck said, the company planned to ditch its rockets in the ocean, as had been the practice for decades. But like SpaceX, Rocket Lab intends to recover its first stages so they can be reused for future flights for greater efficiency. But instead of flying the boosters back to land and then firing the engines to slow it down, as SpaceX does, Rocket Lab is going to have its booster deploy a parachute to slow it down as it falls back through the atmosphere. Then it would have a helicopter retrieve it with a grappling hook.

• In addition to the NASA moon mission, Beck has long been intrigued with Venus, and planned to send a probe there to look for signs of life. The Venus mission, tentatively scheduled for 2023, would be largely self-funded and launch most likely from New Zealand. “If you can prove that there is life on Venus, then it’s fair to assume that life is not unique but likely prolific throughout the universe,” tweeted Beck.

 

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. — Over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, down past Chincoteague toward the southern

                           Peter Beck

tip of the Eastern Shore, sits an isolated spit of shoreline, near a wildlife refuge, that is home to one of the most unusual, and little known, rocket launch sites in the country.

Born as a Navy air station during World War II, it has launched more than 16,000 rockets, most of them small sounding vehicles used for scientific research. But the Wallops Flight Facility, which at the dawn of the Space Age played a role as a test site for the Mercury program, is about to reinvent itself at a time when the commercial space industry is booming and spreading beyond the confines of Florida’s Cape Canaveral.

After the Federal Aviation Administration last month granted Rocket Lab, a commercial launch company, a license to fly its small Electron rocket from the facility, Wallops could soon see a significant increase in launches as the company joins Northrop Grumman in launching from this remote site. While Rocket Lab is largely focused on national security missions, Northrop Grumman launches its Antares rocket to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station on cargo resupply missions at a rate of about two a year, including a picture-perfect launch from the Virginia coast Friday at 9:16 p.m. Northrop also launches its Minotaur rocket from Wallops.

            Dale Nash

Rocket Lab wants to launch to orbit as frequently as once a month from Wallops, which would make the facility the

                Wallops Island, Virginia

second busiest launch site in the country, behind Cape Canaveral, which is on track to fly 39 rockets to orbit this year.

Hoping to give birth to another rocket hub on the Eastern Seaboard, the state of Virginia has over the last 25 years pumped some $250 million into what it calls the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, most of that coming in the last decade, said Dale Nash, the agency’s CEO and executive director of Virginia Space. NASA has also made some significant upgrades to the site, including a $15.7 million mission operations control center, which opened in 2018.

The state also contributed to the $15 million it took to repair a launchpad after an Antares rocket exploded in 2014.

The efforts paid off when Rocket Lab, perhaps the most successful space upstart since Elon Musk’s SpaceX, announced last year it would launch its Electron rocket from here. Once NASA signs off on the company’s autonomous flight abort system, it should be cleared to launch, with a mission coming potentially before the end of the year.

Initially, Rocket Lab looked at Cape Canaveral, of course. But there are already a lot of big companies stationed there — Boeing, the United Launch Alliance and SpaceX. Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin is renovating a pad there while building a massive manufacturing facility nearby. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

“We ran a competitive process,” Peter Beck, Rocket Lab’s chief executive, said in an interview. In the end, Wallops was the winner because it had a facility nearby where the company could process its payloads, get the satellites ready for launch and then mate them to a rocket quickly.

“The whole facility is designed for rapid launch,” Beck said. “And that’s a real requirement out there right now from our national security and national defense forces, to have an ability to respond to threats quickly.”

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Space Force Doesn’t Want to Send a Human to Do a Robot’s Job

Article by Nathan Strout                                 September 29, 2020                                 (c4isrnet.com)

• While Space Force officials have tried to keep the focus on what their personnel will do on the ground to support the nation’s space assets, this hasn’t dampened public speculation as to when Space Force will they send humans into orbit. A recent recruiting ad seemingly implied its members would literally be going to space.

• But for anyone joining the Space Force to be an astronaut, Maj. Gen. John Shaw has some bad news. “I think it will happen,” Shaw said on September 29th, “But I think it’s a long way off.” Shaw serves as both commander of Space Force’s Space Operations Command and for the U.S. Space Command’s Combined Force Space Component Command. Shaw sees two big reasons why it’s not likely to happen soon: “First, space isn’t really all that habitable for humans.” “And the second is, we’re getting darned good at this robotics thing in space.”

• “You know, the best robots that humans have ever created are probably satellites — either ones that explore other planets or operated within our own Earth/moon system,” said Shaw. “GPS satellites might be among those …and we’re only getting better with machine learning and artificial intelligence. We’re going to have an awful lot of automated and autonomous systems operating in Earth and lunar orbit and solar orbit in the days and years to come doing national security space activity.”

• The Space Force and the US Air Force are investing in robotic capabilities that preclude the need for humans in space. Most notable is the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Spacecraft (RSGS) program being run by DARPA (illustrated above). With RSGS, DARPA wants to develop a robotic arm that can be placed on a free flying spacecraft which can navigate up to satellites to conduct repairs, orbital adjustments, or even install new payloads. DARPA hopes to launch a robotically enhanced vehicle into orbit in late 2022, where SpaceLogistics will provide the spacecraft and DARPA will provide the robotic arm.

• The Air Force Research Laboratory is building ROBOpilot, a robot that can fly planes, completely replacing the need for human pilots. It can press pedals to activate brakes, pull on the yoke to steer, adjust the throttle, and even read the dashboard instruments to see where it is and where it’s going.

• The secretive X-37b space plane is an unmanned vehicle is currently able to take off, carry host experiments into orbit, deploy satellites, and return to earth without humans on board.

• But Shaw believes that it’s inevitable. “At some point, yes, we will be putting humans into space,” said Shaw. “They may be operating command centers somewhere in the lunar environment or someplace else that are continuing to operate an architecture that is largely perhaps autonomous.”

• In July, the Sierra Nevada Corporation announced it had received a study contract for such autonomous orbital outposts in low Earth orbit. Missions will include hosting payloads, supporting space assembly and manufacturing, microgravity experimentation, logistics, training, testing and evaluations. SpaceNews confirmed that two other companies – Nanoracks and Arkisys – have also received study contracts.

• While these orbital outposts will be unmanned for now, a Defense Innovation Unit spokesperson said that it would be interested in securing a “human rating” for future outposts. So even if humans on orbit are not part of the military’s immediate plans, it remains a tantalizing possibility. “At some point that will happen. I just don’t know when,” said Shaw. “And it’s anybody’s guess to pick the year when that happens.”

 

                  Maj. Gen. John Shaw

Since it was established in Dec. 2019 — and probably even before that — one question has plagued the U.S. Space Force: when will they send humans into orbit?

While Space Force officials have tried to keep the focus on what their personnel will do on the ground to support the nation’s space assets, they’ve done little to dampen speculation. The Space Force probably didn’t help itself when it released a recruiting ad earlier this year that seemingly implied its members would literally be going to space.

But for anyone joining the Space Force to be an astronaut, Maj. Gen. John Shaw has some potentially bad news.

“I think it will happen,” said Shaw during the AFWERX Engage Space event Sept. 29. “But I think it’s a long way off.”

Shaw would know. He’s been a key member of the lean staff standing up both the Space Force and U.S. Space Command, serving simultaneously as commander of the former’s Space Operations Command and the latter’s Combined Force Space Component Command. While Shaw sees humans in orbit as part of the military’s plans somewhere down the line, there are two big reasons why it’s not likely to happen soon:
“First, space isn’t really all that habitable for humans. We’ve learned that since our early space days,” he explained. “And the second is, we’re getting darned good at this robotics thing in space.”

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China Quietly Launches ‘Reusable Experimental Spacecraft’

Article by Eric Mack                                   September 4, 2020                                    (cnet.com)

• On September 4th, with little fanfare China’s state-run Xinhua media outlet announced the launch of a “reusable experimental spacecraft” from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. Space industry watchers believe it to be some sort of unmanned space plane similar to the X-37B operated by the US Air Force and Space Force, that the Chinese have been developing since 2017.

• The statement reads: “After a period of in-orbit operation, the spacecraft will return to the scheduled landing site in China. It will test reusable technologies during its flight, providing technological support for the peaceful use of space.”

• The mission was conducted under a veil of secrecy with no official launch photos, and not even the time of launch made public. Jonathan McDowell with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics speculated that China’s secrecy “leads one to think this is not only a space plane, it’s a military space plane”.

• [Editor’s Note]   While the Chinese test flight lasted two days, the Americans have kept its umnanned X-37B aloft in space for more than two years. (see previous ExoArticle on the X-37B craft)

To be fair, the Air Force is just as secretive about its X-37B craft. But the unmanned Chinese craft, called ‘Chongfu Shiyong Shiyan Hangtian Qi’ (translation: ‘Repeat Use Test Space Craft’) returned safely two days after the September 4th launch. Interestingly, it appears that the Chinese craft released an object into space before returning back to the Earth. (see follow-up article “China’s reusable experimental spacecraft returns to Earth after two-day mystery mission”)

 

China says it has successfully launched a “reusable experimental spacecraft” under increased levels of secrecy. Space industry watchers believe it to be some sort of unmanned space plane similar to the X-37B operated by the US Air Force and Space Force in recent years.

              US Air Forces’ X-37B

A short statement from China’s state-run Xinhua media outlet announced the launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Friday.

“After a period of in-orbit operation, the spacecraft will return to the scheduled landing site in China. It will test reusable technologies during its flight, providing technological support for the peaceful use of space,” the statement reads.

The mission was conducted under a veil of extra secrecy, with no official launch photos or even the time of launch made public.

“That leads one to think this is not only a space plane, it’s a military space plane,” said Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics astronomer Jonathan McDowell on a European Space Agency sponsored Zoom conference Friday.

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China Leads Charge in Space Race

Article by Brandon J. Weichert                              September 3, 2020                                   (washingtontimes.com)

• China yearns to displace the United States as the dominant space power, and to inspire its people to make China a global hub of scientific research and development – the cornerstone of a knowledge-based economy. By placing the first rover on the dark side of the Moon in 2019, and by being the first nation to construct a lunar colony or to land ‘taikonauts’ on Mars, China is telling the world that it is truly the leader of today’s knowledge-based economy.

• But as China ascends, America is in decline. In 2019, on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landings, a Harris Poll asked young people in both the United States and China what they wanted to be when they grow up. Most of the American youth surveyed said they wanted to be professional “Vlogger/YouTubers” when they grow up. The Chinese youth overwhelmingly aspired to be astronauts.

• In the 1970s and 80s, China made great wealth by becoming the world’s sweatshop. In the 1990s, China invested that wealth in infrastructure to build a large middle class and a stable economy. This was all part of China’s long-term plan to ultimately become the dominant knowledge-based economy in the world. Today, China is at the forefront of quantum computing, biotech, alternative energy, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and space technologies.

• In 2018, the head of China’s lunar program, Ye Peijian, put their national space ambitions this way: “The universe is an ocean, the Moon is [an island], Mars is [an island]. If we don’t get to [these islands] now, even though we’re capable of doing so, then we will be blamed by our descendants. If others go there, then they will take over, and you won’t be able to go even if you want to. This is reason enough [to go to the Moon and beyond].”

• Meanwhile, American leadership oscillates between indifference and abdication on the matter of space policy. President Donald J. Trump has developed a truly robust national space policy, but his policies and his new military branch, Space Force, are only met with derision by bureaucratic lawmakers. Democrats on Capitol Hill have already stated that Trump’s plans to return American astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024 will not be fiscally possible. NASA’s director of manned spaceflight challenges the very notion of successfully returning astronauts to the Moon before the decade is over.

• The future belongs to the country that wants it more. Without higher levels of funding, the Space Force will never mature into the robust force it must become to defend American interests in the strategic high ground of space. The American nationalist call to greatness is being squelched by the globalist demand for mediocrity. Without the embrace of nationalism in the United States, the country’s national mission in space will end in failure and its people will stop dreaming. America’s greatness will erode at every level.

• [Editor’s Note] How could America fall behind in the space race you ask? It was by design. Just after the Roswell crash in July 1947, Truman appointed twelve military, intelligence and scientific officials to form a secret group whose purpose was to hide from the public all evidence of the advanced extraterrestrial beings that were visiting the Earth, and to hide the fact that we were building our own space fleets and colonizing the solar system. This group is known as Majestic 12, and it still exists in the dark corridors of the deep state government’s power elite.

MJ-12 would use any means available to keep the truth from the American public, from ridiculing anyone who claimed to have seen a UFO or an alien being (and basically ruining their lives), to directing deep state funded media, scientists and academia to never take sightings seriously. The result has been generations of Americans who are conditioned to scoff at and ignore anything pertaining to UFOs and extraterrestrials. The deep state government doesn’t want people interested in exploring space. The deep state driven military hawks and corporate owners want to have space all to themselves – and the advanced space technology that goes with it. They simply deny that any of it exists. Deep state legislators routinely reject spending on space endeavors and laugh at the notion of a Space Force. They want to keep a lid on the enormous fraud that has been perpetrated on an unwitting public since World War II.

On the other hand, the Chinese have encouraged space exploration for both its national pride and to usurp American geopolitical and exopolitical dominance. Indeed, the deep state has become entrenched within the Chinese government as well, and will try to keep its space empire a secret. But how long can it be before countries such as China, Russia and India have pushed their way into deep space, and these ubiquitous deep state Secret Space Programs become obvious? The deep state won’t be able to hide the truth for very much longer.

 

On the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landings, Harris Poll asked young people in the United States and China what they wanted to be when they grew up. The results were strange. Most American youth surveyed — the young people who belonged to the only country to have ever placed astronauts on the lunar surface — admitted that they wanted to be professional “Vlogger/YouTubers” when they grew up. It was the Chinese youth

                          Ye Peijian

who overwhelmingly aspired to be astronauts.

Speaking to Chinese state media in 2018, the head of China’s lunar program, Ye Peijian, outlined the Chinese view of their national space strategy in explicit geopolitical terms, specifically in naval terminology: “The universe is an ocean, the moon is the Diaoyu Islands [sic], Mars is Huangyan Island. If we don’t get there now even though we’re capable of doing so, then we will be blamed by our descendants. If others go there, then they will take over, and you won’t be able to go even if you want to. This is reason enough [to go to the moon and beyond].”

China made great wealth by becoming the world’s sweatshop in the 1970s and ’80s. Throughout the 1990s, it reinvested that wealth into building out the infrastructure needed to both support an enlarged middle class and to ensure that China moved up the international development ladder.

China’s leadership never intended to remain just an industrial power subordinated to the United States in the post-industrial, knowledge-based
economy. China planned to become the dominant knowledge-based economy in the world. They have pioneered many innovations in the new industrial economy, notably 5G Internet, but are also heavily invested in quantum computing, biotech, alternative energy, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and space technologies.

For China, these new scientific innovations are not merely about making more money or even gaining a military edge over the West (Beijing certainly does care about those things). More than that, though, China yearns to displace the United States and dominant space power simply out of national pride.

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China Working Toward ‘Space Great Power Status’

Article by Jack Beyrer                                    September 2, 2020                                    (freebeacon.com)

• In September 1st, the US Department of Defense (DoD) rolled out its ‘2020 China Military Power Report’. (see here) In assessing Beijing’s militarized space program’s capacity and long-term strategy, the Pentagon announced that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army has every intention of reaching “space great power status”.

• President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist leadership have developed a “space great power by every measurable yardstick that you can throw out there, not least of which is capacity for their military,” the DoD’s deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, Chad Sbragia, told the Washington Free Beacon.

• The DoD report concurs: “The PRC’s space enterprise continues to mature rapidly. Beijing has devoted significant resources to growing all aspects of its space program, from military space applications to civil applications such as profit-generating launches, scientific endeavors, and space exploration,” the report reads. “Its primary target is the United States.”

• China now boasts the second-largest fleet of satellites, regularly works with Russia on weapons development, and has launched a series of rockets and rovers as it takes aim at Mars. The report details China’s plans to have its own permanent space station by 2022 and a lunar surface research station by 2025. Significant portions of China’s missile warning and military communication networks will also reside in space.

• Such efforts have required the full thrust of Chinese Communist Party investment and commitment. “They have a very clear and definitive aspiration for becoming a global power preeminent by all measures, at least in terms of status, to any others. And space is not the least of that,” says Sbragia.

• Meanwhile in Washington, the 2018 National Defense Strategy (see here) explicitly outlines space as a potential “warfighting domain,” and calls for extensive investment in space-facing defensive capabilities. Donald Trump has promised to make Space Force a priority in his second term.

 

A top Pentagon official announced on Tuesday that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is building its capacities

               Chad Sbragia

toward “space great power status.”

“When you listen to the Chinese Communist leadership—particularly Xi Jinping, who serves as the core of the party—he’s outlined very specific requirements and expectations,” Chad Sbragia, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, told the Washington Free Beacon. “Xi’s done the same in terms of having space great power status—and that’s being a space great power by every measurable yardstick that you can throw out there, not least of which is capacity for their military.”

Sbragia’s comments came at an American Enterprise Institute event rolling out the 2020 China Military Power Report. The report offers a bird’s-eye view assessment of China’s military capacities, as well as its long-term strategy and trajectory. It also details Beijing’s development of a militarized space program.

“The PRC’s space enterprise continues to mature rapidly. Beijing has devoted significant resources to growing all aspects of its space program, from military space applications to civil applications such as profit-generating launches, scientific endeavors, and space exploration,” the report reads. “Its primary target is the United States.”

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Trump’s Promises for Space Force and NASA in His Second Term

Article by Mark Whittington                              August 30, 2020                              (thehill.com)

• Among the promises that President Trump has made as part of his “Contract with America,” (see here) should he be re-elected, will be to “launch Space Force, establish permanent manned presence on the Moon, and send the first manned mission to Mars.”

• A permanent Moon base is not likely to happen in Trump’s second term. Nor will a mission to Mars. As his presidency draws to a close, the best that Trump can hope for during a second term is to preside over the first human Moon landing since 1972. The lunar landing promises to include the first woman to step on the Moon, ever.

• President Trump has executed the most far-reaching space policy since President Kennedy’s race to the Moon. Deep space exploration programs that involve returning astronauts to the Moon and dispatching crewed expeditions to Mars have been a perennial project for Republican presidents. Trump has proposed a deep space exploration program that employs a combination of NASA and the commercial sector. Both Trump’s executive orders and Congressional legislation have encouraged the economic development of space, particularly mining the Moon and the asteroids along with space-based manufacturing.

• Trump’s space agenda is more remarkable because he gave barely a hint of it during his first campaign. Twice, when he was running for president, Trump was dismissive of sending humans to Mars. Now he can talk of little else.

• While the idea of a separate space-faring military branch has been kicked around for years, the Space Force initiative came out of the blue. In a remarkably short time, Trump has turned an obscure policy proposal into reality. While some critics mock the Space Force, others agree that the nation’s dependence on communications satellites and GPS needs a Space Force branch to defend those assets.

• The Democrats have, quite cleverly, endorsed the President’s space agenda in their own party platform (see here), suggesting that it doesn’t matter who is president insofar as space is concerned. But how would a President Biden go to advance deep space exploration, commercial space development and the Space Force? No one can be quite sure about Biden, especially as he is being heavily influenced by space opponents like Bernie Sanders.

• We don’t know whether Joe Biden would work to enhance America’s space power, and one suspects that he won’t, if elected. Trump, on the other hand, will work relentlessly to make America a space superpower.

 

Instead of a party platform, the Republicans have deferred to President Donald Trump, who has offered what is in effect a “Contract with America,” similar to the one Newt Gingrich drew up in advance of the 1994 midterm elections. Among the promises Trump has made is the following:
“Launch Space Force, Establish permanent manned presence on the moon and send the first manned mission to Mars.”

        Democrat nominee Joe Biden

The space promise, succinct and to the point, elicits a couple of quibbles.

First, a permanent moon base is not likely to happen in the second term. Nor will a mission to Mars. As his presidency draws to a close, the best that Trump can hope for is to preside over the first human moon landing since 1972, a remarkable feat regardless.

Also, the use of the adjective “manned” is likely to trigger outrage in certain quarters. America has been launching female astronauts since Sally Ride’s first flight in the early 1980s. Indeed, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine always takes pains to state that the first human moon landing in over 40 years will consist of “the first woman and the next man.”

One can also point out that, like the space plank in the Democratic Party platform, Trump’s promise lacks certain specifics. However, the president has a record forged during his current term that fills in the blanks in great detail.

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