U.S. Senate Committee Hearing Focuses on the New Space Race
“There’s a Bad Moon on the Rise: Why Congress and NASA Must Thwart China in the Space Race”
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing Wednesday focused on the issue of what nation will be first to land the next humans on the Moon. The hearing, titled "There’s a Bad Moon on the Rise: Why Congress and NASA Must Thwart China in the Space Race”, included testimony from former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, as well as Allen Cutler, president and CEO of the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration; Mike Gold, president of Civil and International Space for Redwire, and; Lieutenant General John Shaw, Former Deputy Commander of the U.S. Space Command.
"You hear democracy dies in darkness? Our freedom could die in the depths of space if we are not able to monitor and understand what's happening with space situational awareness around the moon."
Mike Gold, Redwire
Committee chairman Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, said in announcing the hearing that it was an important opportunity to chart a course that reinforces American leadership in space, strengthens NASA, fuels our growing commercial space sector, and protects our economic and national security interests in the final frontier.
The discussion ranged from NASA's impact on diplomacy and military readiness to how small businesses contribute to the success of programs like Artemis. Michigan Senator Gary Peters, a Democrat, asked Allen Cutler about what Congress can do to include more small businesses in the aerospace supply chain.
"We can't have this program without small businesses," Cutler said. "And it you think about it, these missions, they need every single piece to work. It's common to hear something like 'you need a million things to go right for a mission to be accomplished, you just need one to go wrong'. That stems all the way up and down the supply chain. And it starts with small business. They are making those initial components that make Artemis possible. So absolutely critical on the small business side. I think, we talked about this a little bit with Senator Moran when we talk about CRs (Continuing Resolutions), the instability that comes with uncertain funding, be it not knowing if we're going to shut down, continuing resolution, are we going to continue the program after Artemis III with SLS and Orion, all of these things insert instability into businesses understanding. And when that happens, maybe larger companies can weather those sort of things. For small businesses, that's hard."
Chairman Cruz raised an alarm about China being very transparent about its ambitions both in low Earth orbit and on the Moon. Redwire's Mike Gold talked about the importance of the United States beating China to a permanent presence in Cislunar space with its Gateway program.
"When I was at NASA, I got a briefing on our ability, or should I say inability, to monitor Chinese activities in cislunar space. I didn't sleep for a week. You hear democracy dies in darkness? Our freedom could die in the depths of space if we are not able to monitor and understand what's happening with space situational awareness around the moon," Gold said. "And relative to nuclear on the moon, you mentioned helium-3, it's not just about the moon, it's about earth. The countries and companies that control the moon will control the Earth, it's just a matter of time. Rare earth elements, helium-3, we need to be able to extract these resources, we need to be able to learn to live off the land."
Our Take
As Senator Cruz and witnesses like Mike Gold and Allen Cutler stressed, securing a permanent U.S. presence in cislunar space and on the Moon is not just a matter of scientific achievement but a vital step in safeguarding national security and economic interests. The path forward demands robust collaboration between government, industry, and innovators to ensure America remains the preeminent force in the final frontier.