New president is making his space policy increasingly clear: America will remain grounded for the time being

By Brandon J. Weichert - - Wednesday, February 3, 2021

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

The United States is in a titanic struggle with the People's Republic of China for the dominance of space.

Although the Americans have been to the moon and sent multiple, advanced probes to the surface of Mars, since the end of the Cold War, U.S. space policy has languished in neutral. Due to this, new competitors, namely China, have arisen to challenge the dominance of the Americans in the ultimate strategic high ground of space.

China has grand ambitions for space. Not only does China plan on beating the Americans to the Martian surface by the end of the decade, but Beijing wants control of the vital orbits around the Earth. By controlling these orbits, China's military would enjoy significant advantages over the American military. Beyond that, China plans on strip-mining the moon for valuable resources.

The Americans, though, have always had a silver bullet in its competition with China for space dominance: a vibrant and innovative private sector. Specifically, the growing number of private space start-ups, such as Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Thanks to his reusable rocket design, Mr. Musk's company has already cut down on launch costs by a staggering 40 percent. SpaceX insists that it can cut those costs down further. What's more, SpaceX rockets are entirely indigenously produced. And as the ongoing race to Mars between the United States and China intensifies, Mr. Musk's new deep space reusable rocket Starship, might just be the vehicle that gets American astronauts to Mars before China can get its taikonauts to the Red Planet.

Certainly, the Starship reusable rocket is unproven. In another America, this experimental craft would elicit wonder and its development would be encouraged. The Trump administration exhorted SpaceX to vigorously move ahead with its Starship program.

The United States, however, has a new president. And President Joe Biden is making his space policy preferences increasingly clear: America will remain grounded for the time being.

On Jan. 28, SpaceX was set to put its Starship rocket through another test in the blue skies above Texas. The objective of the test was to get the massive rocket up to 12.5 kilometers  about seven miles  above the Earth and then spin the giant rocket around so that it could make a vertical landing.

Sadly, the visionary goal of getting Americans to Mars first came crashing down when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) which, under the Trump administration had allowed for SpaceX to conduct their important test flights, ordered Mr. Musk to cancel the Starship prototype test.

The FAA did not cite its reasoning behind ordering the cancellation of the launch. Many have speculated that the cancellation was brought about due to safety concerns. After all, in December 2020, SpaceX did a test of the experimental rocket. The Starship prototype made it to a height of 41,000 feet. Once it reoriented itself, in order to allow for the rocket to land vertically, the great silver spacecraft promptly did a bellyflop that ended in a massive explosion.

Despite this, SpaceX learned many valuable lessons from the December failure that were to be applied to the Starship launch in January. In science, the only lasting failure occurs when one does not test a new idea or hypothesis. This axiom is especially true in the context of the new space race between the United States and China.

It's likely that the FAA's decision to cancel the launch is part of a wider Biden administration effort undo the Trump administration's vibrant space policy. Plus, former President Trump's space vision was explicitly aimed at countering advances made by China in space. It is unlikely that the Biden administration seeks to continue that policy, as the Biden team attempts to stabilize deteriorating relations with Beijing over the next few years.

Concern over Mr. Musk's Martian intentions is likely another factor for the FAA's cancellation of the Starship launch. Last year, Mr. Musk indicated that any future SpaceX Martian colony would not be "ruled by Earth-based laws." The problem for Mr. Musk is that SpaceX has been awarded lucrative contracts by the Earth-based U.S. government. If SpaceX were to create a colony on Mars, because of the company's contractual relationship with the U.S. government, Washington very much expects that colony to be an American endeavor.

Lastly, Mr. Musk has been publicly supportive of the recent "GameStonk" controversy. A group of anonymous, individual investors on Reddit decided to engage in a little activism by inflating the stock price of Gamestop, a video game retailer. Melvin Capital, a storied Wall Street investment firm, was forced into bankruptcy by this move (they took the other side of the bet, attempting to short the Gamestop stock).

The "GameStonk" event was so significant that the Biden administration is vowing to prevent something similar from happening again. Congress is even getting involved. Because of Mr. Musk's prestige and his vocal support for the Redditors who helped to take down Melvin Capital, it is possible that the Biden administration was punishing Mr. Musk by canceling the Starship launch at the last minute.

It is not only Mr. Musk who suffers from the FAA's cancellation of the SpaceX test flight. We, the American people  and the entire effort to beat China to Mars  suffer. The Biden administration's decision to increase regulations on the private space launch services sector and slow down their operations, as evidenced by the recent Starship launch cancellation, will only help China in its ongoing mission to defeat America in the new space race.

Brandon J. Weichert is the author of "Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower," (Republic Book Publishers) available on Amazon. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon and via Clubhouse @wethebrandon.


nowww.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/feb/3/biden-cancels-elon-musks-adventures-in-space/

Dude. Is there a cliffnotes version?

I stopped at china mining the moon for resources.

Do you think there are moonbats up there for them to eat?

They launched the rocket, obviously there was no ban. My guess is the FAA grounded SN9 so they rolled out SN10 as it's backup.

I've had the FAA ground planes after I did my preflight and everything was perfect. Some female trying to flex her stuff said there was too much wiggle in the flap actuator rod. The wiggle was normal on all our aircraft.

Can’t read? Words are hard?

How do you even find the time to post?

His opinion is wrong.

No joke. It’s important, and took 5 minutes to read.

I quit reading after the third paragraph!
TLDR - I have shit posting to get to!!!

What an asshole.

Angry Lesbians hate the colonization of space. He's giving this one to them. for free.

Yeah, IDK 'bout that. SN9 did get to fly and I haven't heard about any issues regarding SN10.

Wouldn't put it past 'em to slam the brakes on an American company so the chinese can pull ahead though.


FJB

Lol.

Slow-Joe consulted his old friend for this choice

Wonder if Elon will pack up his new factory and move it to another country? I can't imagine anyone turning him down. Instant first world status where ever he call his new home and a whole of first world countries start trembling when they realize Elon could run roughshod over all their advanced technologies.

Who gives a shit if they test rockets ?

Apparently the Chinese don’t even want tests of rockets .

Makes less sense than a normal Xiden order

Jeez.

Elon Musk might be a loon to some extent, but SpaceX is American Greatness at work.

Elon Musk has publicly  denounced Communist ideals.

The Joe Biden FAA has punished SpaceX.

Any nation foolish enough to push out such a company damn well deserves to fall from power.

To give up the foothold in space at this point in history is to give up nearly all future relevance.

Guessing China wants their shot and paid off Xiden to get him to fuck with SpaceX so they don't do it first.

yup that's a whole bunch of bullshit

Of all the folks to screw with I'd say that Musk strikes me as someone I wouldn't want to tangle with.

This is like the Russians asking Kennedy and Johnson to slow down and wait for them to catch up. FJB and China for doing this

The admin and FAA sure have been up his ass all the sudden...

FJX

(Xiden)

Why? Historically he's a liberal and big liberal donor.

Next they'll pass the Anti-Dog-Eat-Dog legislation, forcing Elon Musk to sell off all of his companies but one, giving the upper hand to his direct competitors.

I wonder if South Africa will soon have a thriving space industry?

what a truly dumbass, moranik thing to say. moonbats on the moon, to feed the chicom miners. LOL! everyone knows the moon is made of cheese. last i heard a chinaman would eat anything, even moon-cheese. and moonbats too if they happen to be up there, which i highly doubt.

Sounds like china put a call in to biden

This is all due to the climate shite

https://www.treehugger.com/spacex-launch-puts-out-much-co-flying-people-across-atlantic-4857958

That seems to be about it.

Only the Idiot Joe could give away Space to the Red Chinese!

Not quite so much now.

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk disavowed his older socialist beliefs and went full Communism-hater on Twitter, after denouncing the satirical outlet The Onion over an ‘eat the rich’ joke.
Just two years ago, Musk had described himself as “actually a socialist” and advocated for the “greatest good for all.” On Monday, however, he tweeted describing the founder of Communism Karl Marx as a “Hungry Santa” and his seminal work Das Kapital as “Gib me dat for free.”

https://www.rt.com/usa/496009-elon-musk-kapital-onion/

What's to keep Musk from launching from somewhere else?

ESA might give him a home.............Joe is a damned brain dead moron to halt anything space related

Your nightly news:presented by Matt bracken

Biden sucks.

Musk is crazy like a fox and I don't believe will take kindly to the huge dent Biden just put in his bottom line. I don't know allot about Musk, but he strikes me a man who cares more about money than politics.

Uncle Sam's tit hasn't run dry yet

This, he has the means and doesn't give a fuck.

To the benefit of Amazon's Blue origin and China.  Crazy.  Musk should do launches in Mexico.

Not quite sure that article is 100% accurate ?? I just left there a few days ago. SN9 and SN10 on the pads.
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Musk has the money to just leave which is what I would do right quick.  
He should go make all the arrangements to take his money and programs to some small country that will give him all the freedom he wants, then do some interviews placing all the blame on Biden and his administration.

They won't stop him from doing what he intends to do.   It'll just end up benefiting someone else.

Clickbait title.




This is purely an opinion piece, true or not there is no evidence cited for or against. Both possibilities are equally plausible.

Obiden better not pissoff Elon...he is smarter than the whole Demorat Party put together!

It will be verrrrry interesting to see how all of this plays out. Maybe he just launches anyway??

Joey keeps stepping on his dick.
I hope Elon tells that commie-cocksucker to pound sand

Old story. FAA yanked the flight because of sn8 flight. Had skipped some paperwork.


The gov is a giant pita but I doubt the new president had dick to do with it.

IIRC Oppenheimer only worked for Hitler to have his research funded. He would have been happy for anyone else to do the same. Who knows how Elon feels about his research.

This is no way connects or accuses Elon of any connection to Nazism. Oppenheimer, the father of modern rocketry, Only that Oppenheimer had similar interest as Elon.

My best guess would be Poland.

Elon Musk establishes an independent Mars nation, Earth turns into a shithole, Belters pop up somewhere between and then Earth either gets infested by the protomolecule or nuked by Belters.

Because it is in deed dangerous considering their proximity to civilization, the reach cruising altitude if commercial planes and gov burocracy.

Id expect rockets to get some scrutiny.

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Fuck the FAA and Biden. Move the whole operation to another country that wants it. Mexico? Costa Rica?