Center Issues Major Paper On US Space Policy And Programs

The Center for Security Policy today released a major paper outlining a comprehensive approach to U.S. space policy and programs designed to assure long-term American access to and exploitation of outer space.

The Center’s Director, Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., in releasing this paper, entitled "Defining a U.S. Space Policy: Getting from Here to There," noted the emphasis it places upon development and deployment of the National Aerospace Plane (NASP). "We believe that the National Aerospace Plane is an absolutely vital program — for the contribution it will make to American national security and for its various commercial applications. This program may also be essential to the United States’ future leadership in space and competitiveness in a variety of crucial technologies."

The release of this paper — with its forceful call for the NASP to be made a national program, removed from the unnecessary secrecy and strangulating budgetary management of the Air Force — is particularly timely. President Bush is expected to decide this weekend whether to accept the Defense Department’s recommendations that further DOD funding for NASP be terminated. Gaffney said, "Our analysis suggests that acceptance of the Defense Department recommendations would be the biggest catastrophe to befall the Nation’s space program since the Challenger blew up, the most ill-considered management decision since the Apollo program was terminated."

The Center’s paper was produced by a working group of distinguished experts, including Dr. George A. Keyworth III, former Presidential Science Advisor, and Lt. Gen. James A. Abrahamson, USAF-Ret., former Director of the Strategic Defense Initiative. In addition to its recommendations on the NASP, the paper addresses needed changes in a variety of civilian, military and commercial space programs.