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WASHINGTON: NASA Chief Jim Bridenstine told lawmakers on Wednesday (September 23) that it was crucial for the United States to maintain a presence in Earth orbit after the International Space Station was dismantled so that China would not gain a strategic advantage.
The first parts of the ISS were launched in 1998 and it has been experienced continuously since 2000.
The station, which serves as a space science laboratory and is a partnership between the US, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada is currently expected to operate through 2030.
“I will tell you one thing that has me very worried, and that is that the day will come when the International Space Station reaches the end of its useful life,” Bridenstine said.
“For the United States of America to have a presence in low Earth orbit, we have to be prepared for what comes next,” he added.
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To that end, NASA has requested $ 150 million by fiscal year 2021 to help develop the commercialization of low Earth orbit, defined as 2,000 km or less of the planet’s surface.
“We want to see a public-private partnership where NASA can deal with commercial space station providers so that we can maintain a permanent and uninterrupted human presence in low Earth orbit,” Bridenstine said.
“I don’t think the nation is interested in building another International Space Station; I do think the nation is in the best interest of supporting the commercial industry, where NASA is a customer.”
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Bridenstine warned lawmakers that this was critical to maintaining US space supremacy in the face of a planned Chinese space station that Beijing expects to be operational by 2022.
The station is called Tiangong, which means Heavenly Palace, and in June, Chinese state media announced that it would partner with 23 entities from 17 countries to carry out science experiments on board.
These countries included developed and developing countries such as France, Germany and Japan, as well as Kenya and Peru, according to the Xinhua news agency.
“China is rapidly building what they call the ‘China International Space Station,’ and they are rapidly commercializing that space station among all of our international partners,” Bridenstine said.
“It would be a tragedy if, after all your time and effort, we left low Earth orbit and ceded that territory.”
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He explained that ISS microgravity offers great potential for scientific advancements, from pharmaceutical product innovations to 3D printing of human organs and creating artificial retinas to treat people with macular degeneration.
Bridenstine said that it was therefore necessary to fund NASA to pay companies to set up a space station, where it would be one of several clients to cut its own costs.
This, he added, was vital to “finally not cede that territory to another country that does not care about our interests.”
