The Growth of Global Space Capabilities: What’s Happening and Why It Matters
Opening Statement By Chairwoman Gabrielle Giffords
Good morning. I’d like to begin by welcoming our witnesses to today’s hearing and thanking them for their participation. The topic of this hearing—“The Growth of Global Space Capabilities: What’s Happening and Why It Matters” is one that should concern all Members of this Subcommittee, and indeed all Members of Congress. Because the world is changing—and those changes present both opportunities and challenges to the United States that we cannot ignore…nor should ignore.
While I believe this hearing is particularly timely given the president’s current trip to China, Japan, and other nations of the Asian region, there is another reason why I decided to hold such a hearing at this time. We are at a critical juncture and decisions are being contemplated that will have a significant impact on both the direction and health of our nation’s civil space program for decades to come. While the president and his advisors are engaged in their internal deliberations on what to recommend for NASA and its human space flight program, I believe it is imperative for Congress to not stand idly by. Instead, I believe that Congress must use the time remaining in this Session to carry out the independent oversight necessary to assess the findings of the Augustine panel, and more importantly, to illuminate the stakes that are involved in whatever decisions the White House and Congress make regarding NASA’s funding and future direction. We started that oversight process in September with a review of the overall Augustine report. We followed that full committee hearing with a subcommittee hearing to review what needs to be done to improve the effectiveness of NASA’s technology programs—an issue raised by the Augustine panel.
Schedule permitting, I intend to follow today’s hearing with a hearing to examine human space flight safety issues—an area that many believe was given inadequate scrutiny in the Augustine report—and then a hearing to examine workforce and industrial base issues that are inextricably linked to the decisions we make on NASA’s future.
As I mentioned earlier, our hearing this morning focuses on the growth of global space capabilities--capabilities that have significant implications for the U.S. as we contemplate the future of our own space program. As our witnesses will make clear, at a time when some in the United States seem to be questioning whether we should sustain a strong commitment to investing in our space program, the rest of the world has not hesitated to embrace the promise that the exploration and utilization of outer space can offer to them. Those other nations recognize that space activities can spur innovation, help improve the quality of life of our citizens, promote national security and economic competitiveness, and advance geopolitical objectives. That recognition echoes the aspirations of our congressional predecessors when they established NASA and undertook other related actions some fifty years ago.
While the “Sputnik moment” delivered by the Soviet Union in 1957 and the subsequent “Space Race” helped catalyze action by the U.S. government, it was not just geopolitical competition that drove us to invest in our space program. Important as the Cold War rivalry was, I believe that even then, visionaries in Congress and the Executive Branch recognized the benefits to our society and our country that a strong and robust space program could deliver to the United States. History has proved them right.
We can just look at the myriad ways that our space investments have transformed our economy, our defense, and our quality of life over the last fifty years to realize the space has become woven into the very fabric of our daily life. So it’s no surprise that other nations, seeing the benefits that space investments have delivered to our nation want to share in those benefits. I, for one, see that as a positive development and not one to fear. While we must always be vigilant against those who would use space capabilities to threaten others, we should not turn away from opportunities for constructive engagement in peaceful space cooperation. Because, as our witnesses make clear, there are no lack of challenges that would benefit from cooperation among nations in the space arena.
That said, I agree with the sentiment expressed by President Kennedy when he said 47 years ago that, “This generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to be part of it—we mean to lead it.”
We face different challenges today than the ones faced by President Kennedy, but his vision of the importance of space to the future of this country and the importance of U.S. leadership in exploring and utilizing space has been borne out over the intervening years. It’s clear that the space capabilities that are been created around the world can play a constructive and significant role in addressing the many societal challenges we face today. It’s also clear that our next great space endeavor—that of human and robotic exploration of our solar system—can benefit greatly from those same global space capabilities.
Yet if we are to harness those capabilities, the United States needs to make clear to the rest of the world that we are not wavering in our own commitment to space exploration and to the path we have started down. It’s hard to lead without a clear sense of direction. Or as Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.”
Fortunately, I believe we do know. The NASA Authorization Act of 2008 established a congressional consensus in support of a strong human and robotic exploration initiative as part of a robust and balanced space program—and in support of devoting the resources needed to pay for it. I know that the president will be grappling with many hard decisions in the days ahead as he attempts to balance competing priorities. But what to do about the nation’s space program doesn’t have to be one of them.
Based on the actions already taken by Congress over the last four years, I think there is a clear path ahead that already has broad congressional support, and I am confident that he will support it too. With that, I again want to welcome our witnesses, and I look forward to your testimony.
Witnesses
Panel
1 - Mr. Marty Hauser
Vice President Washington Operations Research and Analysis Washington Operations Research and Analysis
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2 - Mr. J.P. Stevens
Vice President Space Systems Aerospace Industries Association Space Systems Aerospace Industries Association
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3 - Dr. Scott Pace
Director Space Policy Institute George Washington University Space Policy Institute George Washington University
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4 - Dr. Kai-Uwe Schrogl
Director European Space Policy Institute European Space Policy Institute
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5 - Dr. Ray A. Williamson
Executive Director Secure World Foundation Secure World Foundation
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