Harris unveils Biden’s priorities for space exploration, workforce
Vice President Kamala Harris emphasized building a STEM workforce, addressing climate change, and promoting the rules and norms that govern space on Wednesday during the first National Space Council meeting of President Joe Biden's administration.
Her remarks in Washington — and the newly created U.S. Space Priorities Framework released Wednesday — are the first major space policy announcements to come from the Democratic administration.
Snippets of information have come out, such as the continuing support for NASA'S Artemis Program that will return humans to the moon, but now there is a formal document outlining the Biden administration's goals for exploring, defending and preserving space.
“Through our work in space, we have an opportunity to benefit not only the American people but all of humanity,” Harris said during a gathering of the council, which she chairs. “Our framework is therefore comprehensive. Our agenda is ambitious. But as an astronaut once told me about the advice he received ahead of his first spacewalk: He was told, ‘It's simple. Just focus on what's right in front of you, and from there widen your view.' That, my friends, is how we will move forward.”
The National Space Council coordinates federal space policies and activities, synchronizing efforts in the civil, commercial and national-security sectors. Variations of the panel have been used at various times by different administrations, with it first operating under a different name from 1958 to 1973 and then again as the National Space Council from 1989 to 1993. It was revived by President Donald Trump's administration on June 30, 2017.
The newly announced U.S. Space Priorities Framework will guide the council's efforts to develop and implement national space policy and strategy.
Moon, Mars, beyond
These priorities include pioneering space research and technology for exploring the moon, Mars and beyond. This continues the Trump administration's plans to return to the moon (though NASA is no longer targeting 2024) and create a sustainable lunar presence before continuing to Mars.
And while the previous administration talked about putting a woman on the moon for the first time, NASA now talks of landing the first woman and first person of color on the moon. This was written into the Space Priorities Framework.
“This is the first time that is being stated as official government policy,” said Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security
Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, “To write it down in a policy document, I think that is significant. They are effectively binding NASA and the U.S. government to the decision that they will put a person of color on the moon.”
Another change is emphasizing the importance of satellites for mitigating and adapting to climate change. Such activities occurred under the Trump administration, but they weren't publicly highlighted or emphasized, said Brian Weeden, director of program planning for the Secure World Foundation, which promotes the sustainable and peaceful use of space.
Harris, a California Democrat, pledged Wednesday to make Earth-observing data from satellites and sensors accessible to more people. She said she'd also like to expand global partnerships to increase the data that's collected from space.
Also essential to the council is providing opportunities to more students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
“The United States used to lead — I said past tense — used to lead the world on innovation,” Harris said. “But right now, our nation is falling behind as others develop their STEM workforce. To compete in the 21st century, to keep our nation secure in the 21st century, our nation must invest in more scientists, more engineers, more programmers.”
Harris and others on the council agreed it was “irresponsible” for Russia to conduct an anti-satellite missile test last month, blowing up one of its own satellites and spreading debris in Earth's orbit.
“We must demand responsibility from all spacefaring nations,” Harris said. “We must establish and expand rules and norms on safety and security, on transparency and cooperation to include military, commercial and civil space activity.”
Satellite security
The new Space Priorities Framework emphasizes the importance of enhancing the security and resilience of satellites and other space assets so they can be protected from both natural hazards and competing nations that “identify space as critical to modern warfare.”
It will also continue the Trump administration's initiative to shift the tracking of satellites and debris — information that helps prevent collisions and protect people while they're in space — from the military to a U.S. civil agency. This information would then be available on an open platform that uses data and services provided from a variety of government, commercial, academic and international sources.
And the framework is supportive of working with the country's commercial space sector, suggesting that regulations should provide clarity and certainty for commercial space activities. Increasing commercial space opportunities and streamlining regulations was similarly a priority under Trump.
Nonpartisan, consistent
“What stands out to me about the framework is the consistency with the previous two administrations on a lot of major areas,” Weeden wrote in an email. “I think that consistency reflects the nonpartisan nature of a lot of space activities.”
Yet the Biden administration seems to better understand that space policy cannot be tackled alone, Harrison said.
It often requires buy-in and support from other nations. The framework released Wednesday says the U.S. will partner with its allies and partners in a variety of areas.
Harrison was encouraged by Wednesday's developments. He expects space will become increasingly important to the Biden administration considering the advances being made by commercial companies and the activities being tackled by other nations, such as Russia's anti-satellite missile test and China building its own space station.
“It's a good first step,” he said. “The real test is going to be how do they follow through on these things. At the end of the day, a policy document is just a piece of paper. What you really want to see is action and change throughout the federal government.”
DALLAS