Space policy of the United States
[3] The 1958 National Aeronautics and Space Act, which created NASA, created a National Aeronautics and Space Council chaired by the President to help advise him, which included the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, NASA Administrator, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, plus up to one member of the federal government, and up to three private individuals "eminent in science, engineering, technology, education, administration, or public affairs" appointed by the President.In these cases, the President negotiates and signs the treaty on behalf of the United States according to his constitutional authority, then presents it to the Congress for ratification.Once a request is submitted, the Congress exercises due diligence to approve the policy and authorize a budgetary expenditure for its implementation.In addition, the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operates various services with space components, such as the Landsat program.NASA funding has been criticized over its entire lifetime on the grounds that more pressing concerns exist, such as social welfare programs,[10] as well as for various other reasons.The United Nations General Assembly adopted five declarations and legal principles which encourage exercising the international laws, as well as unified communication between countries.The five declarations and principles are: In the aftermath of World War II, President Harry S.Truman approved Operation Paperclip between 1945 and 1959, a secret US intelligence program in which more than 1600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians, including Wernher von Braun and his V-2 rocket team, were brought to the United States from Germany for US government employment to gain a US military advantage in the Soviet–American Cold War.In October 1956, the Lockheed Aircraft Corp. got the first WS-117L production contract, but a diplomatic problem associated with aerial surveillance worried President Eisenhower and held back the spy satellite program.[17] President Dwight Eisenhower was skeptical about human spaceflight,[citation needed] but sought to advance the commercial and military applications of satellite technology.Prior to the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, Eisenhower had already authorized Project Vanguard, a scientific satellite program associated with the International Geophysical Year.At the suggestion of Eisenhower's science advisor James R. Killian, the drafted bill called for creation of the new agency out of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.Eisenhower appointed T. Keith Glennan as NASA's first Administrator, with the last NACA Director Hugh Dryden serving as his Deputy.His pick for NASA Administrator, James E. Webb, however pursued a broader program incorporating space applications such as weather and communications satellites.During this time the Department of Defense pursued military space applications such as the Dyna-Soar spaceplane program and the Manned Orbiting Laboratory.[28] However, his ambitions would be restricted by the prohibitive costs of the Vietnam War and programs of the Great Society, which forced cuts to NASA's budget as early as 1965.[32] NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine was drawing up ambitious plans for the establishment of a permanent base on the Moon by the end of the 1970s and the launch of a crewed expedition to Mars as early as 1981.In commercial space travel, Ronald Reagan backed a plan which allowed American satellites to be exported and launched on China's Long March rockets.[39][40] This was criticized by Bill Nelson, then a Florida representative, as delaying the U.S.'s own commercial space development, while industry leaders also opposed the idea of a nation-state competing with private entities in the rocketry market.[44] Clinton's top goals were to "enhance knowledge of the Earth, the solar system and the universe through human and robotic exploration" and to "strengthen and maintain the national security of the United States.He instead promised $6 billion in additional funding and called for development of a new heavy lift rocket program to be ready for construction by 2015 with crewed missions to Mars orbit by the mid-2030s.[56] The Obama administration released its new formal space policy on June 28, 2010, in which it also reversed the Bush policy's rejection of international agreements to curb the militarization of space, saying that it would "consider proposals and concepts for arms control measures if they are equitable, effectively verifiable and enhance the national security of the United States and its allies.The policy calls for the NASA administrator to "lead 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."Among other dignitaries on hand for the signing, were NASA astronauts Sen. Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, Buzz Aldrin, Peggy Whitson, and Christina Koch.[58] President Joe Biden's press secretary has expressed his support of the Artemis Program which seeks to land a man and the first woman on the surface of the Moon.
U.S. Space ForceMercuryGeminiApolloSkylabSpace ShuttleShuttle–MirInternational Space StationCommercial CrewConstellationArtemisLunar GatewayExplorersLarge StrategicLunar OrbiterLunar PrecursorMarinerMars ExplorationNew MillenniumPioneerPlanetary MissionsDiscoveryNew FrontiersPlanetary ObserverRangerSurveyorVanguardVikingVoyagerNASA Astronaut CorpsEastern RangeCape Canaveral Space Force StationKennedy Space CenterWallops Flight FacilityMid-Atlantic Regional SpaceportPacific Spaceport Complex – AlaskaWestern RangeVandenberg Space Force BaseAntaresAtlas VElectronFalcon 9Falcon HeavyLauncherOneMinotaurNew GlennNew ShepardPegasusSpace Launch SystemStarshipVulcan CentaurUnited States Space ForceNational Reconnaissance OfficeUnited States Space CommandDepartment of Energy national laboratoriesFederal Aviation AdministrationOffice of Commercial Space TransportationNational Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationNational Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information ServiceOffice of Space CommerceSpace Weather Prediction CenterDepartment of State Office of Space AffairsOffice of Science and Technology PolicyBall AerospaceBigelow AerospaceBlue OriginBoeingFirefly AerospaceLockheed MartinRaytheonRocket LabNorthrop GrummanSierra Nevada CorporationSpaceXUnited Launch AllianceVirgin GalacticVirgin Orbitspace policySpace RaceSpace Shuttle programexploration of the Mooncolonization of MarsPresident of the United StatesUnited States CongressSpace advocacySpace Science InstituteSpace Force AssociationNational Space SocietySpace Generation Advisory CouncilYuri's Nightlearned societiesAmerican Astronomical SocietyAmerican Astronautical SocietyNational AcademiesNational Aeronautics and Space AdministrationDepartment of DefenseNational Security CouncilOffice of Management and BudgetNational Aeronautics and Space ActSecretary of StateSecretary of DefenseNASA AdministratorAtomic Energy CommissionJohn F. KennedyLyndon B. JohnsonRichard M. NixonGeorge H. W. Bushexecutive orderBill ClintonDonald TrumpOuter Space TreatyconstitutionalHouse Subcommittee on Space and AeronauticsSenate Subcommittee on Science and SpaceApollo programApollo 1House Subcommittee on Strategic ForcesSenate Subcommittee on Strategic ForcesHouse Permanent Select Committee on IntelligenceSenate Select Committee on IntelligenceSenate Foreign Relations CommitteeCongressional Research ServiceOffice of Technology AssessmentCongressional Budget OfficeGovernment Accountability OfficeDepartment of Commerce