The new 2010 U.S. space policy

Abstract

The Obama Administration released the new US Space Policy on 28 June 2010. This was slightly unusual because Presidents normally review space policy during their second term, not the first, because of the low political salience of space policy, though Presidents Reagan and George H W Bush did so in their first term, during a period when space policy was highly controversial. The document is divided into three sections, on principles, goals and guidelines, as the Bush document was. These sections are important because they indicate where the priorities of US space policy lie. As Garnett has noted, “in retrospect at least, policy is revealed by a series of decisions, and in prospect it is revealed by general statements of purpose.”⁶⁹⁷ This is why the space policy document is important, not only in terms of the principles and goals outlined, which reflect core values repeated in virtually every presidential space policy since the start of the space age, but also because the guidelines suggest the areas where the government is determined to act. The long-term aspirations outlined in a policy document need to be distinguished from the objectives that the government is actually going to seek to achieve during its term of office. The question therefore is not so much what aspirations are outlined in the policy, but rather what is the administration actually intending to do?