Xin Huang
Northwest Asian Weekly
Xin Huang
Geneva, July 13th 2010
The United State’s new national space policy, released just two weeks ago, is a statement that shows President Obama’s highest priorities for space, while reflecting on the principles and goals in shaping the U United State’s space programs and activities.
Frank A. Rose, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Defense Policy, spoke and emphasized repeatedly that the feature of the policy is international cooperation.
“We are interested in working with all ‘space varies’ nations,” said Mr. Rose. “[The U.S. government] has consulted Japan and other nations when conducting this policy. So we have done more than just talk, but [have] practically ‘engage America in expanded international cooperation in space activities’… There are a lot of common interests among the nations.”
The new space policy recognizes the transformation of the space environment as well as the evolution of our utilization of space. When the space age began, the opportunities to use space were only available to a few nations. Now, the growth and evolution of the global economy has seen an ever-increasing number of nations and organizations using space.
“All the nations should have equal rights exploring the space capacities, to create wealth and prosperity, to monitor the earth’s environment and its natural resources,” said Mr. Rose.
This report shows a fairly modest and general position that America holds in terms of space policy. Space weapon development does not appear to be a focus in this report. “We are trying to build a sustainable space environment, blowing up satellites is not sustainable,” said Mr. Rose.
Meanwhile, America will not close the door on developing a space weaponry facility to maintain its global strategies. The United Stateswill still consider space arms development. This report also mentioned, “Of equal significance, more nations are using satellites in ways to help maintain international peace and security.”
Regarding the reasons why the United States refused to join the PPWT treaty (Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space), Mr. Rose responded: “There are severe limits in that treaty. For example, it does not ban the land based anti-satellite capacity.” Mr. Rose suggested that denying PPWT should not be used as evidence that the United States is against space weapon prevention.
This report does not reveal the amount to be spent on space technology development. Mr. Rose said the new policy provides guidelines for American government officials to conduct budget plans. The budget proposal for the associated departments, such as NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration), will be made according to this new policy.
Xin Huang is a senior at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. He is participating in a summer internship in Geneva, Switzerland, where he is attending conferences at the United Nations.