The Biden Administration’s Plans for the U.S. in Space: More Questions than Answers

The Biden Administration’s space policy, yet undefined, could determine whether the U.S. will become more of a soft power leader or a hard power competitor in the space domain.

Washington, D.C. is witnessing a noticeable overhaul across all sectors as it adapts to the new vision and leadership of the Biden Administration. As Senate confirmations conclude, appointees jump to task in their new positions, and President Biden elapses his 100th day in the Oval Office–April 30th–the public is able to glean more about Biden’s intentions for the United States role on the world stage.

What about the United States’ role beyond the world stage–in outer space? 

Every year, outer space is garnering more interest as technologies expand possibilities and climate crises enhance awareness for understanding the world beyond our atmosphere. The Biden Administration’s undeniable attention to resolving climate issues should complement scientific endeavors in outer space. Still, thus far, the Administration’s focus is on domestic renewal and reestablishing a previously withdrawn American international presence. Because of the current field of play, it would be folly to prioritize climate change programs in space policy these next four years. Space exploration cannot afford to be sidelined.

Furthermore, President Biden’s newly-confirmed NASA Administrator, former Florida Senator Bill Nelson, whose selection was only announced in mid-March, places a politician at the head of the historically science-centered, independent agency. The subsequent announcement in May that Vice-President Kamala Harris would be chairing the National Space Council has also renewed curiosity about the Administration’s intentions for NASA. While having a vice president chair the National Space Council is neither irregular nor surprising given its location in the Executive Office and the stipulations written in the Council’s June 2017 revival by the Trump Administration, doing so while the concurrent NASA Administrator is also a career politician is virtually unprecedented. Only once before, when career politician Jim Bridensteine became Administrator in April 2018 as Vice President Michael Pence served as NSC Chair, has this occurred. If not carefully counter-balanced, the double-downed presence of two career politicians being the final voice in U.S. space policy could prove to alter NASA’s mission set and the United States’ overall presence in this emerging field of public-private competition. 

The Biden Administration on space policy

Of course, none of these details truly matter if the new administration has no firm plans for the space domain. 

At present, the Administration expects NASA to fold into its ever-expanding climate conservation plan. Within two weeks of being sworn into office, President Biden created a new senior climate advisor position that is currently filled by one of NASA’s lead climate scientists, Gavin Schmidt. As then-acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk explained in the announcement, “[t]his will enable the agency to more effectively align our efforts to help meet the administration’s goals for addressing climate change.” This is not a surprising decision. Ever since the first glimpse into the Democratic Party platform in the 2020 elections, most experts in the space industry have anticipated this emphasis on programs that “better understand how climate change is impacting our home planet” and many welcome the attention on programs that had fallen short of the Trump Administration’s priorities. 

However, the limited scope of space policy early in the Biden Administration is concerning and could result in a significant shift in attitude for the United States in space. Aside from where it ties into technological superiority and resolving climate issues, Biden has not appeared to set space policy as a priority. During his presidential campaign, Biden rarely commented on space other than a few notes of congratulations on NASA’s successful Demo-2 crew mission last summer. Given the virtually nonexistent statements from the Biden campaign and the limited comments from the Democratic Party platform, observers were left to assume that Earth science is ‘in’ and human exploration is ‘out’ of Biden’s space policy priority list. 

In the early days of the Biden Administration, there were two specific space programs that observers were most concerned about: the United States Space Force and the Artemis program.

The United States Space Force is a newly-established sixth branch of the military that was announced in October 2019 by then-Vice President Mike Pence. Concerns of the branch and its command being eliminated were appeased by an announcement during a February 3 press briefing by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki: 

[The United States Space Force] absolutely has the full support of the Biden administration. And we are not revisiting the decision to establish the Space Force.

Furthermore, the following day, Psaki confirmed the Administration’s plans to support the Artemis program, NASA’s mission to return astronauts to the Moon by 2024, stating that “certainly we support this effort and endeavor.” This decision might have been finalized by a letter sent on February 3 to the president by 11 Democratic senators urging “robust funding” for the Human Landing System program. There was minimal mention of either program in the following two months.

However, the release of his fiscal year 2022 discretionary ‘skinny budget’ on April 9 proved that either space policy may not be as forgotten as observers first thought or the Administration’s attention to space has expanded since the February announcements. Biden’s discretionary budget, which is a type of release that historically only includes “top-line budget” items, requests $24.7 billion for NASA–a $1.5 billion or 6.3% increase from the prior year’s enacted level. The request specifies the budget would go towards: “sustainable aviation capabilities; human and robotic exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond, including returning Martian rocks and soil to earth; and development of Earth-observing satellites that would produce breakthrough science and support the Nation’s efforts to address climate change.” There was no indication of a prioritization of these projects in this document, though the Administration has made more space-related comments as the first 100 days wore on and the then-head of NASA has applauded the Biden-Harris Administration for their attention to space policy.. As acknowledged by Acting Administrator Jurczyk in a response to the budget, this release is evidence of an “investment” and “confidence” in the potential for what NASA has to offer. 

NASA’s new administrator Bill Nelson

As the voice and top-decision-maker of the Agency, the NASA administrator plays a vital role in building both the perception of NASA to the world and the prioritization of programs in NASA. Upon his nomination, President Biden described former Florida governor Bill Nelson’s breadth of experience with space policy in Congress and long history with NASA, concluding that “most every piece of space and science law has had his imprint.” Although some in the field were disappointed in the missed opportunity to have the first female administrator and nervous of his status as a politician, Nelson’s nomination was generally accepted by the community. He was the head sponsor of the 2010 law that produced the Space Launch System, NASA’s new Moon rocket, and was seen as the ‘go-to’ senator for space questions by many of his colleagues. After leaving the Senate in 2018, he served on the NASA Advisory Council until his nomination in March and subsequent confirmation at the end of April by consensus vote. What might be his biggest advantage, however, is his extensive government network. As space policy analyst John Logsdon notes, “[l]ike the president, he is a member of the Senate club” with nearly 40 years of service in Congress (1979-2018), “so he’s going to have access.” Nelson’s predecessor Jim Bridenstine echoed these sentiments as well.

While his legislative expertise and dedication to the subject is impossible to disregard, there is more to directing NASA than policy making. Nelson reportedly “has little track record of engagement with the agency’s science programs.” Furthermore, Nelson himself questioned the wisdom of having a politician heading a science agency when his predecessor Jim Bridenstine was going through confirmation hearings, though he later commended Bridenstine for his work at NASA.

What’s to come?

At the pace currently set by involved parties, the next four years will be critical in determining the playing field for outer space. Most notably, experts predict that multiple major space programs–many of which the U.S. do not currently have a connection to–will expire or reach completion deadlines within the next four years while the Biden Administration is at the helm. At the front of this list is the aging International Space Station that is the foremost representation of a unified, cooperative forum in outer space that may soon be replaced by a China-led cooperative with Russia. As one expert succinctly concluded in March, the Biden Administration’s decisions “will determine whether space can remain a safe, nonpartisan domain for an economy to flourish or become an inhospitable orbital minefield where only military hegemons joust for supremacy.”

Given the current environment of a world coming out of a pandemic and all of its hardships, it is understandable–expected, even–that the Biden Administration has not placed space policy development as a priority. But ignoring this emerging field of conquest, even temporarily, will only prove to be a detriment to the United States and serve as a potential gateway for other nations to take hold of the emerging realm and all the opportunities therein. Furthermore, with 78% of Americans having an overall favorable impression of NASA and 73% saying that NASA contributes to pride and patriotism, the Administration would not have a difficult time garnering the support of the American people in expanding space policy.

Just four years ago, establishing a firm and unified space policy would not be vital to national security; but times have changed and other actors are openly on the move in the space domain. As space analyst Kartik Bommakanti succinctly explained in early February, “[w]hether the PRC can achieve some form of control definitively at this stage is unclear, but if the Biden administration underestimates the drive and space military ambitions of the PRC, it would be a monumental folly because the competition with the US is underway.” Space exploration cannot afford to be sidelined.