Mars Can Wait: Why America Must Prioritize Cislunar Space
Space Technology and Policy
Good morning,
Elon Musk stated this week that we should deorbit the International Space Station (ISS) as soon as possible.
This statement came shortly after Musk got into a spat with three ISS astronauts, who pointed out Musk’s lie that NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams had been abandoned for ‘political reasons.’ It would be easy to assume that he’s frustrated with the ISS program in general and this was the tipping point.
But that’s not what Musk cares about; Musk wants to go to Mars.
The eccentric billionaire and Trump’s hatchet man has long held an inspired and inspiring aspiration to reach Mars. And, Musk’s vision has already shaped the trajectory of U.S. space efforts, but his disdain for cislunar programs risks undermining critical national objectives.
Last month, he stated that NASA’s planned return to the Moon is a distraction on the way to Mars. If he had it his way, we’d stop virtually all space spending that was advancing towards crewed Mars missions.
Now, we have long admired Musk’s aspiration to reach the red planet—but doing so at the expense of programs in Cislunar space is a massive mistake.
If Musk’s SpaceX wants to continue to pursue this aspiration, we think that’s great! But, for our national benefit (including our national defense) we need to be focused on the space that is influenced by and that influences Earth and our Moon. This includes the Earth-Moon Lagrange points (relatively stable orbital areas in space that are ‘locked in’ by the gravitational pulls of the Earth and Moon).
We need to stay focused on Cislunar space for the following reasons:
Missile detection, missile warning, and missile defense - As America focuses on the Golden Dome, we will require additional space-based capabilities to provide early warning, categorization, and defense against adversary missiles.
Global communications - Satellites in various orbits provide us some of our most secure national and military communications capabilities.
Global precision navigation and timing systems - These systems are necessary for military targeteering, electrical power distribution, and even the financial markets.
Space situational awareness - Monitoring space to prevent spacecraft collisions, mitigate debris, and ensure access to space.
Economic opportunities - Future lunar mining, space-based manufacturing, and resource utilization will shape global economic power. The nation that dominates cislunar space will lead the space economy of the 21st century.
Clean energy - Space-based solar power offers one of the greatest potentials for reliable, stable, inexpensive, long-term power generation.
Assured access - China has already declared its intent to establish a permanent lunar presence. If we fail to match and exceed their efforts, we risk handing over cislunar dominance to an adversary with very different views on freedom of access to space.
The U.S. cannot afford to let a Mars-first mentality compromise our leadership in cislunar space. We must invest, develop, and defend this domain—or risk ceding it to those who will.
Alright, on to the news!
News Headlines
Evidence emerges that State Department's $400M budget line for armored cars from Tesla came from current administration, not Biden admin (TV)
SECDEF says he fired top military's lawyers because they weren't well suited for the jobs (AP)
China's Xi affirms 'no limit' partnership with Putin in call on Ukraine war anniversary (NBC)
Putin offers Russian and Ukrainian rare minerals to U.S. (BBC)
Ukraine PM says deal reached with U.S. on minerals (BBC)
Senate confirms Dan Driscoll as Secretary of Army (MT)
House narrowly approves budget plan along partisan lines—extending $4.5T in tax cuts and trimming $2T in federal spending over ten years (TH)
Russia describes potential peacekeepers in Ukraine as a ‘deceit’ (BBC)
Trump floats $5 million 'gold card' as a route to US citizenship (RT)
Satellites
Launches
Upcoming Launches
Space News
Iron Dome for America gets a golden makeover (DN)
Elon Musk calls for deorbiting the ISS as soon as possible (SN)
Musk seeks to use Starlink terminals in U.S. airspace systems (MIL)
Space Force releases rare photo of X-37B space plane in orbit (SP)
Companies are planning to build space critical infrastructure, space policy may lag (SN)
Saltzman bars Space Force staff from Mitchell Institute events over disagreement on his theory of space power (BD)
Space Force will play 'central role in Iron Dome, service chief says (MT)
Space Force finishes construction at Australia site for its new deep space radar (ASF)
Space Development Agency satellite procurements moving forward amid heightened scrutiny (SN)
Despite looming defense cuts, analysts see long-term upside for space investments (SN)
U.S. Air Force to explore Xona Space’s commercial alternative to GPS (SN)
SpaceX launched its 8,000th Starlink satellite (SFN)
BAE wins $230.6M contract for space weather program (SN)
KBR wins $176M contract to modernize U.S. space surveillance site (SN)
Space Force bumps Astrion from resilient GPS program (DN)
True Anomaly opens Long Beach factory, citing proximity to Space Force customers (SN)
ABL Space renamed Long Wall as it shifts focus to defense market (SN)
Foreign Space News
China is building a rival to the James Webb Space Telescope (LS)
The European Parliament is weighing options for satellite comms in Ukraine if Starlink is cut-off (VS)
Australian-based Gilmour Space schedules its first launch for March (SN)
Germany's Isar Aerospace to attempt first orbital launch from Western Europe (AT)
Airbus takes another 300 million euros in space program charges (SN)
Deal Flow
VC
Karman+ digs up $20M in a seed round co-led by Plural and Hummingbird to build an asteroid mining autonomous spacecraft (TC)
UK-based Magdrive raised a $10.5M seed round led by Redalpine and Founders Fund for its electric propulsion thruster with specific impulse matching chemical thrusters (TC)
Kapta Space raised a $5M seed round led by MetaVC Partners to advance space-based target tracking (SN)
Opportunities
NASA’s Phase I SBIR / STTR submission window will shut in two weeks! (NASA)
NASA is soliciting information from potential vendors that would be interested in working on its Space Weather - Geosynchronous (SW GEO) program (SAM)
NASA has extended to tonight the deadline for submissions on its Lunar Exploration Ground Sites (LEGS) Communications Ground Systems (SAM)
Editor’s Picks
The House Subcommittee on Space & Aeronautics live-streamed its hearing Step by Step: The Artemis Program and NASA’s Path to Human Exploration of the Moon, Mars, and Beyond.
Read the contentious Mitchell Institute report that poo-poos Space Force strategy, resources.
Lighter Side
Keep Building,
BOF