Space

Space policy governs the United States' civil space program through NASA, the growing commercial space industry, military and intelligence uses of space, and the emerging international legal frameworks for activities beyond Earth. The U.S. has been the dominant space power since the Apollo era, but that leadership is increasingly contested: China has become a formidable space power, landing on the far side of the moon, operating a crewed space station, and planning a crewed lunar landing by 2030. Russia remains capable despite economic pressures. The commercial space industry — led by SpaceX, Blue Origin, and dozens of smaller companies — has transformed space economics, dramatically reducing launch costs and enabling new applications from satellite internet (Starlink) to space tourism. NASA's Artemis program aims to return humans to the Moon, using SpaceX's Starship as the lunar lander, with an initial crewed landing targeted for the late 2020s. Satellite infrastructure has become critical to daily life and national security: GPS, weather forecasting, communications, and financial transactions all depend on space assets that adversaries have targeted with anti-satellite weapons. China and Russia have tested and deployed such weapons, raising the stakes of conflict in space. Space law is governed primarily by the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which prohibits national appropriation of the Moon or other celestial bodies — but the treaty's applicability to commercial resource extraction is contested. The FCC regulates commercial satellite spectrum and orbital slots, creating regulatory friction with SpaceX's rapid Starlink deployment.