Obama Space Policy Directive Coming Soon

The Obama administration is expected to release its National Space Policy sometime in the next few weeks. This public summary of the administration’s main principles and goals for using space will supersede the Bush administration’s policy, which was issued in 2006.

Press attention likely will focus on the National Space Policy’s implications for changes at NASA and the future of the piloted spacecraft program, but experts point out that the document language also will indicate how the Obama administration will approach space security, which is more important internationally. If the administration’s public statements are any indication, the new policy likely will represent a return to a more international approach to space; a more balanced view of civil, commercial and military uses of space; and a greater openness to arms control and cooperative solutions to international space security issues.

The Space Development Committee, a group that includes Apollo 11 astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 14 astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell, and members from NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense says the president's space policy should include space-based solar power.

"The answer is eight minutes above Mr. Obama's head. Solar power harvested in space means jobs, economic recovery, power to the global poor, and a new American century. Space solar power can turn America from a billion dollar a day oil importer to a net energy exporter. Space solar power can be harvested 24/7 and transmitted directly to the cities and villages that need it, from America, Europe, India, and China to the electricity-deprived corners of Africa and Asia. Drill up, not down, Mr. Obama. Space solar power," says Howard Bloom.