US President Donald Trump watches the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, with astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, lifts off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30, 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Since the inauguration of President Donald Trump to his second term, close observers of American endeavors in space seem to be wringing their hands over the potential dis-establishment of the National Space Council.
The council, established in the late 1980s but dormant for many years before its 2017 revival by an executive order by Trump and continued through the Biden years, was designed to “[synchronize] the nation’s civil, commercial, and national security space activities to advance the broader priorities” of the United States in space, according to a Biden-era fact sheet.
But media rumors suggest Trump could ax the council, egged on by lobbying from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, according to Reuters.
That, in turn, has prompted concerns related to how “we need a National Space Council to chart our future in outer space.” There are several layers to this argument, but the long and short of it is that it’s overblown.
It may be the case that Trump simply does not need a space council to pursue his administration’s strategy for American space leadership for the next four years.
Here’s why:
The President already has the policy framework and strategy for American spacepower from his first term.
The second Trump administration does not need another year long space posture review to decide where we are going when we have the National Strategy for Space and all the SPDs developed during the 2017-2021 first term.
It can be argued that the National Space Council has already met its objectives for the administration, and now its up to the President and his new team to execute these directives and strategy across civil, commercial, and national security space as soon as possible.
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The National Strategy for Space was never fully implemented, neither were the Space Policy Directives (SPDs). These should provide the framework for American excellence in space and all departments and agencies tasked within these should be held accountable with timelines and budgetary support from OMB and Congress.
That will be hard enough dealing with Congressional opinions and ideas despite having majorities in both Houses. No need to bury the president in excess policy discussions when that homework has been done.
The existence of a National Space Council will not prevent “rogue agencies doing what they want.”
I know this from experience. In the last Trump administration, there were many departments and agencies that would use the implementation guidance coordination process as means of “resistance” to the president’s strategy and policy directives.
While many people complain about how the president is looking for senior appointments to run the departments and agencies who are “loyal”, the fact is that each of these people serve at the pleasure of the president, and their jobs is to execute his policies, once the discussion period is complete.
To avoid providing additional means for resistance to policy directives from continuing, recruiting those who are of the same mind is key. It might be that some at the highest levels think that the time for discussion is over and the time to move out is now. I for one believe this to be the case.
The relationship between Trump and Elon Musk has not “politicized space.”
I have written on this topic of “politicizing space” before. The reality is space policy has always been a political undertaking, both nationally and internationally. Apollo was a geopolitical decision by John F. Kennedy. Not everyone in the US government was on board and did what they could to kill the effort.
The Space Shuttle and space station were both political decisions. Many have argued that if the Russians weren’t engaged for the International Space Station, NASA might not have had a vote to continue the project. Cancelling the Constellation project to send astronauts back to the moon and to Mars, started by President George W. Bush, was a political decision that even President Barack Obama’s own party members in Congress were not totally happy with.
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Decisions in the future regarding civil and national security space will continue to generate political mobilization. It is an area of great emotion, passion, and strategic need. Space is only politics free in science fiction.
Musk is a very outspoken proponent of going to Mars. This is not a new thing. Musk was a huge advocate of this when Obama was in office as well as during the Biden administration. The difference between Trump and Obama with the Biden administration is while Obama and Trump sought to enable commercial space technology such as SpaceX for commercial crew, cargo, and other capabilities, the Biden administration was perceived as overly restrictive. While some regulation is vital to safety of property and the environment, too much is hindering to American leadership in space.
It only makes sense that Musk would ally with Trump given his stated position to extend American “manifest destiny among the stars.” Given that is Musk’s dream as well, this is a not an unusual business and personal relationship between an industry figure and the president. There are other voices included in the space policy world, Newt Gingrich, Bob Walker, Jared Issacman, and many more are also part of this discussion and will be joining the Trump administration’s space policy team, in the case of Issacman.
Keeping all these realities in mind, might help people understand that while a national Space Council is something that should be supported, there is some sound logic behind why, at least in the Trump administration, such an institution is not necessary for the second term.
The objective now is to get moving. Get the Space Force armed and ready to defend the nation’s critical space infrastructure out into cis-lunar space, and to see the “stars and stripes planted on the planet Mars.” Let’s get going!
Christopher Stone is Senior Fellow for Space Deterrence at the National Institute for Deterrence Studies in Washington, DC. He is the former special assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy. The thoughts, opinions and analysis presented here are his own and do not reflect the position of his employer or the Department of Defense.