150
NASA could fall behind China when it comes to space research if it doesn't have its private successors to the International Space Station (ISS) ready soon, industry leaders told lawmakers during a hearing on Wednesday, February 14.
During the hearing, the officials highlighted China's space program and its recent advances with its Tiangong space station, as first reported by Space.com.
NASA recently announced that the ISS will likely be deorbited in the early 2030s. Instead of relying on one station to take up the mantle, the US Space Agency is funding several private successors to the ISS. However, there are no guarantees they will all be operational by the time the era of the ISS comes to a close.
Looking beyond ISS operations
Speakers at the subcommittee on space and aeronautics hearing mentioned the "threat" of Chinese space research outperforming US research in the coming years due to "aging" ISS hardware.
The US does have a plan to improve its capabilities in the near future, though. As the ISS approaches the end of its operations, NASA aims to innovate by spreading its orbital presence over various smaller, privately-built stations.
These include Jeff Bezos' Orbital Reef Station as well as Nanorack's Starlab station, which will include luxury living quarters designed by Hilton. In a recent interview with IE, former NASA astronaut and CEO Tim Kopra explained that the company has learned from "23 years of permanent human presence on board the ISS."
Still, China's space program is advancing at a rapid pace, and questions remain as to whether the fleet of ISS successors will be operational by the end of the historic space station's operations.
In its 2022 ISS Transition Report, NASA noted that the "latest budget estimate for ISS life extension through 2030 assumes deorbit in January 2031." Starlab is expected to fly to orbit by 2027, though the station's development is a complex project that could be hit by delays. Other stations, like Orbital Reeg, have similar timelines.
One of the subcommittee's priorities is learning the "consequences of a gap" in orbital presence for science and international relations. One of the options US officials have floated is the idea of extending the ISS's lifetime if necessary.
"Having an uncertain end date for the International Space Station ... creates a great deal of uncertainty with regard to investors," Mary Lynne Dittmar, chief government and external relations office for Axiom Space explained during the hearing. Axiom Space has organized three private astronaut Ax missions to the ISS, and it is also one of the firms that has received funding from NASA to build a private space station.
Fractured relations between the US and China
Since 2011, China has been barred from the ISS because Congress passed a law prohibiting official American contact with the Chinese space program. The reason given was national security concerns.
While NASA would be unlikely to turn to China in the face of a gap in its orbital operations, it couldn't freely collaborate with China's space program if it wanted to due to that 2011 law.
One of the key concerns for the US is that other countries that form part of the ISS agreement may turn to China if those ISS private successors aren't ready by the time the ISS ceases operations.
"If commercial platforms are not available ahead of decommissioning, our current partner nations will have no choice but to gravitate towards China," subcommittee witness Dylan Taylor, CEO of Voyager Space, told the hearing.
