Newswise — This week, as the world salutes the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's mission that achieved the first human landing on the Moon, there is also need to reflect on the future of America's civil space endeavor.
The Secure World Foundation is calling attention to several key findings in a newly issued report by the prestigious National Research Council: America's Future in Space: Aligning the Civil Space Program with National Needs.
"This report recognizes the fundamental nature of outer space as a global commons that will take robust efforts in international cooperation to assure the sustainability of space activities over the long term," said Dr. Ray Williamson, Executive Director of Secure World Foundation.
Williamson noted that the new report recognizes that "strategic leadership will be achieved not by dominance"¦but by example and in cooperation with other nations."
"This recognition is an important step forward in true U.S. leadership in global space activities. Together, the nations of the world can make enormous progress in expanding our knowledge and use of the space environment. As this report emphasizes, we should find ways to work more effectively with others in those pursuits," Williamson explained.
New opportunities for space-based endeavors
Phil Smith, SWF's Communications Director, also points to several key items that are underscored in the new study.
"Beyond international cooperation on civil space programs, the report goes on to recommend that the President of the United States should find a way to streamline government space projects, find out where U.S. space policies come up short, and identify new opportunities for space-based endeavors," Smith said.
Specific recommendations in the report include several that fall under what Secure World Foundation calls "space governance" - or the use of effective systems of governance to ensure sustainable activities in outer space.
Smith added that there is no reason to limit the recommendations to domestic policy alone; indeed, the nature of space activities generally means international cooperation and coordination is required.
"The report also highlights the need to integrate civil and national security space objectives according to one strategy, clearly a space governance pursuit that would have significant impact to international efforts," Smith concluded.
Purposeful, strategic U.S. space program
The National Research Council assessment, issued by a blue-ribbon panel of experts under the chairmanship of Lester Lyles, U.S. Air Force (retired) and now consultant came to a central recommendation: The U.S. space program should align with broader U.S. national goals.
Indeed, bringing into line the nation's space agenda with pressing issues " environmental, economic, and strategic " is a national imperative, and will continue to grow in importance, the report notes.
Coordination across federal agencies, combined with a competent technical work force, effective infrastructure, and investment in technology and innovation, the report observes, would lay the foundation for a purposeful, strategic U.S. space program that would serve national interests.
To read the full NRC report, America's Future in Space: Aligning the Civil Space Program with National Needs, go to:
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12701
For comment from Secure World Foundation experts on future directions of U.S. space policy, please contact:
About Secure World Foundation
Secure World Foundation is headquartered in Superior, Colorado, with offices in Washington, D.C. and Vienna, Austria.
The Secure World Foundation is a fully-funded, private operating foundation dedicated to the secure and sustainable use of space for the benefit of Earth and all its peoples.
The Foundation engages with academics, policy makers, scientists and advocates in the space and international affairs communities to support steps that help achieve the secure, sustainable and peaceful uses of outer space with efficient and effective global systems of governance.
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