Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast: Space is going to be the economy of the 21st century

“China’s goal is by 2049, the 100^th anniversary of the Communist Party, they will dominate the global economy using space,” Air Force Lieutenant General Steven Kwast tells Secure Freeom Radio.

General Kwast outlines why American presence and dominance in space is critical for our nation’s defense.

“If you were in China listening to the leadership talk, you would hear and understand that China has made space their national vision. I’ll say that again. China has made space, the dominance of space, and the geography of space their national vision. They’ve done that because they have long memories. In 1400 China had the potential of building the biggest and best navy on earth, and they would’ve been the United Kingdom of today had they done that. But because of political squabbling, they’ve burnt their ships to the ground because the political party in power was isolationist…This is why they see space as their second chance. Space is going to be the economy of the 21^st century. The reason is because it is a network economy, not a linear economy.”

President Trump directed the establishment of the U.S. Space Force in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. General Kwast explains the current state of this proposed sixth branch of the armed forces and the significance of its imminent execution.

“What has happened with the Space Force is that the law was written but it was a political compromise, so the law did not go far enough. The result is that the mindset of the past is still trying to design space to focus very narrowly on the terrestrial. They are missing the broader stoke of strategy that China is going after. You know it by what China is doing. On the far side of the moon China is mapping the minerals with robotics and communications to start manufacturing in space so that you don’t have to carry things from the earth into orbit which is very expensive. They are also transforming transportation to space using thermal nuclear power to get away from chemical propulsion which is so expensive and dangerous.”

Listen to the full interview here