There may be advertisements from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. In a seven-sided document published on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris' office provided an update on President Joe Biden's plans for civilian, commercial and military activity in space. The United States Space Priorities Framework was officially called the United States Space Priorities Framework and outlines many of the priorities that were first laid down during Donald Trump's time in office. Mr Biden's administration has increased space policy with a new emphasis on using space to tackle climate change.
The framework was revealed ahead of the inaugural meeting of the National Space Council, which was established in 1989 before being scrapped in 1993. The space council was re-established in 2017 by President Trump. The document states that space activities are essential to our way of life. They promote our understanding of the Earth, the universe and humanity, enable national security, create good jobs and economic opportunity, enhance our health and wealth-being, and inspire us to pursue our dreams. The paper says that space is a vital national interest to the US and that as space activities accelerate, the US faces new challenges in leadership in the sector. READ MORE: Covid breakthrough as a wonder-drug that slashes death risk
This could be a thinly veiled jab at Russia and China, which are the biggest threats to US space hegemony. China has emerged as a new space power in recent years and has landed rovers both on the Moon and Mars. The country is currently assembling its very own space station and has been expanding its arsenal with terrifying hypersonic weapons. Russia has developed hypersonic weapons capabilities and has recently caused global outrage after testing anti-satellite missiles in orbit. The Biden administration said it would defend its national security interests from the growing scope and scale of space and counterspace threats and that there was increasing strategic competition between spacefaring nations as a threat to US national security in a section titled Maintaining a Robust and Responsible US Space Enterprise. The military doctrines of competitor nations see space as critical to modern warfare and see counterspace capabilities as a means to reduce US military effectiveness and win future wars, according to the document. Confrontation or conflict is not unavoidable. To counter these threats, the White House said that the US will work with allied nations to build a more resilient national security space posture. This will include strengthening the US ability to detect and attribute hostile acts in space. The US and China are locked in a war over military bases LATEST China war fears erupt as a submarine snapped in Taiwan strait REPORT Putin's Russia warns of a "nightmare of military confrontation" INSIGHT Black hole warning over closest merged regions of spacetime to Earth The document states that the United States will take measures to protect its military forces from space-enabled threats. The White House will continue to invest in crewed and robotic missions outside of military activities, despite the fact that the space policy has reaffirmed its commitment to exploring the Moon, Mars and beyond. This includes support for NASA's Artemis programme, which will return astronauts to the Moon for the first time since 1972.