No nasa space launches now- partisan fighting and controversies prevent all funding Handberg 7-25

Military/ Economy

“Many objects have been jettisoned into space: lens covers, auxiliary motors, launch vehicle fairings, separation bolts used to lock fixtures in place…and objects merely dropped or discarded during manned missions.”2 That outer space exploration would create by-products is not surprising; every human venture in history has carried inefficiencies. While outer space seemed limitless a half-century ago, the Space Age has exemplified how quickly orbits around the Earth can be. Space debris has evolved from an environmental nuisance to a serious hazard; the U.S. space shuttle flies backwards and upside down to avoid the problem.3 With tens of millions of debris fragments flying at high velocity through lower earth orbit, both human explorers and space hardware are vulnerable. General Kevin P. Chilton, head of United States Strategic Command, recently wrote: “Military and civilian entities are heavily reliant on services that satellites provide, and space operations are so pervasive that it is impossible to imagine the U.S. functioning without them.”4 During Operation Desert Storm, commercial satellites provided 45% of all communications between the theater and the continental United States.5 Today, according to General Chilton, “We rely on satellites to verify treaty compliance, monitor threats and provide advance warning of missile attacks. It's important to remember that every soldier, sailor, Marine and airman in Iraq and Afghanistan relies on space technology for crucial advantages in the field.”6 Commercially, the economy of the United States is heavily dependent on space assets in virtually every industry. Communications, Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, agriculture, weather monitoring, and shipment tracking in the manufacturing sector are all indispensable to workings of the market.7, 8With international economies interwoven across borders and cultures, damage to a critical satellite might pose serious monetary repercussions throughout multiple countries. For example, nearly a decade ago the failure of the Galaxy IV satellite rendered certain communications useless for two days. “The failure of that one satellite left about 80 (to) 90 percent of the 45 million pager customers in the United States without service…and 5400 of 7700 Chevron gas stations without pay-at-the-pump capability.”9 U.S. News and World Report recently reviewed an exercise simulating a day in the life of the U.S. military without satellites; the deputy under secretary of the Air Force for space programs was questioned about the results. “Fundamentally, you go back to fighting a war like World War II where it’s huge attrition rates, huge logistics, and huge expenses.”10 This example certainly speaks to the reliance on space assets. A lack of action to secure space assets might prove even costlier.