6.02.

2021 Biden cancels Elon Musk's adventures in space - Washington Times

Biden cancels Elon Musk's

adventures in space
New president is making his space policy increasingly clear: America will remain
grounded for the time being

Illustration on Elon Musk by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times more >

By Brandon J. Weichert - - Wednesday, February 3, 2021

ANALYSIS/OPINION:
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The United States isfor

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a titanic struggle with the People’s Republic of China
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for the dominance of space.

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6.02.2021 Biden cancels Elon Musk's adventures in space - Washington Times

Although the Americans have been to the moon and sent multiple,
advanced probes to the surface of Mars, since the end of the Cold War, U.S.
space policy has languished in neutral. Due to this, new competitors,
namely China, have arisen to challenge the dominance of the Americans in
the ultimate strategic high ground of space.

China has grand ambitions for space. Not only does China plan on beating
the Americans to the Martian surface by the end of the decade, but Beijing
wants control of the vital orbits around the Earth. By controlling these
orbits, China’s military would enjoy signi cant advantages over the
American military. Beyond that, China plans on strip-mining the moon for
valuable resources.

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The Americans, though, have always had a silver bullet in its competition
with China for space dominance: a vibrant and innovative private sector.
Speci cally, the growing number of private space start-ups, such as Elon
Musk’s SpaceX.

Thanks to his reusable rocket design, Mr. Musk’s company has already cut
down on launch costs by a staggering 40 percent. SpaceX insists that it can
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cut those costs down further. What’s more, SpaceX rockets are entirely
indigenouslySubscribe
produced. And as the ongoing race to Mars between the
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6.02.2021 Biden cancels Elon Musk's adventures in space - Washington Times

United States and China intensi es, Mr. Musk’s new deep space reusable
rocket Starship, might just be the vehicle that gets American astronauts to
Mars before China can get its taikonauts to the Red Planet.

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Certainly, the Starship reusable rocket is unproven. In another America, this

experimental craft would elicit wonder and its development would be
encouraged. The Trump administration exhorted SpaceX to vigorously
move ahead with its Starship program.

The United States, however, has a new president. And President Joe Biden is
making his space policy preferences
News matters. increasingly
Now more than ever. clear: America will remain
grounded for the time being.
Subscribe for just $1 a month.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/feb/3/biden-cancels-elon-musks-adventures-in-space/?fbclid=IwAR0p63kxU3A-wU9T9joAO5rikn4evPC… 3/7
6.02.2021 Biden cancels Elon Musk's adventures in space - Washington Times

On Jan. 28, SpaceX was set to put its Starship rocket through another test in
the blue skies above Texas. The objective of the test was to get the massive
rocket up to 12.5 kilometers — about seven miles — above the Earth and
then spin the giant rocket around so that it could make a vertical landing.

Sadly, the visionary goal of getting

Americans to Mars rst came crashing down when the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) which, under the Trump administration had allowed
for SpaceX to conduct their important test ights, ordered Mr. Musk to
cancel the Starship prototype test.

The FAA did not cite its reasoning behind ordering the cancellation of the
launch. Many have speculated that the cancellation was brought about due
to safety concerns. After all, in December 2020, SpaceX did a test of the
experimental rocket. The Starship prototype made it to a height of 41,000
feet. Once it reoriented itself, in order to allow for the rocket to land
vertically, the great silver spacecraft promptly did a belly op that ended in a
massive explosion.

Despite this, SpaceX learned many valuable lessons from the December
failure that were to be applied to the Starship launch in January. In science,
the only lasting failure occurs when one does not test a new idea or
hypothesis. This axiom is especially true in the context of the new space
race between the United States and China.

It’s likely that the FAA’s decision to cancel the launch is part of a wider Biden
administration e ort undo the Trump administration’s vibrant space policy.
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Plus, former President Trump’s space vision was explicitly aimed at
countering advances made by China in space. It is unlikely that the Biden
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administration seeks to continue that policy, as the Biden team attempts to
stabilize deteriorating relations with Beijing over the next few years.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/feb/3/biden-cancels-elon-musks-adventures-in-space/?fbclid=IwAR0p63kxU3A-wU9T9joAO5rikn4evPC… 4/7
6.02.2021 Biden cancels Elon Musk's adventures in space - Washington Times

Concern over Mr. Musk’s Martian intentions is likely another factor for the
FAA’s cancellation of the Starship launch. Last year, Mr. Musk indicated that
any future SpaceX Martian colony would not be “ruled by Earth-based laws.”
The problem for Mr. Musk is that SpaceX has been awarded lucrative
contracts by the Earth-based U.S. government. If SpaceX were to create a
colony on Mars, because of the company’s contractual relationship with the
U.S. government, Washington very much expects that colony to be an
American endeavor.

Lastly, Mr. Musk has been publicly

supportive of the recent
“GameStonk” controversy. A group
of anonymous, individual investors
on Reddit decided to engage in a
little activism by in ating the stock
price of Gamestop, a video game
retailer. Melvin Capital, a storied
Wall Street investment rm, was forced into bankruptcy by this move (they
took the other side of the bet, attempting to short the Gamestop stock).

The “GameStonk” event was so signi cant that the Biden administration is
vowing to prevent something similar from happening again. Congress is
even getting involved. Because of Mr. Musk’s prestige and his vocal support
for the Redditors who helped to take down Melvin Capital, it is possible that
the Biden administration was punishing Mr. Musk by canceling the Starship
launch at the last minute.
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It is not only Mr. Musk who su ers from the FAA’s cancellation of the
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SpaceX test ight. We, the American people — and the entire e ort to beat
China to Mars — su er. The Biden administration’s decision to increase
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6.02.2021 Biden cancels Elon Musk's adventures in space - Washington Times

regulations on the private space launch services sector and slow down their
operations, as evidenced by the recent Starship launch cancellation, will
only help China in its ongoing mission to defeat America in the new space
race.

• Brandon J. Weichert is the author of “Winning Space: How America Remains a

Superpower,” (Republic Book Publishers) available on Amazon. He can be
followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon and via Clubhouse @wethebrandon.

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