Space race with China is not just a military competition - Leadership to Ensure the American Dream (LEAD)

Read the latest op-ed in Space News from the Honorable Mike Rogers, LEAD Founder and former U.S. Representative and Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

“Strategic competition, whether military or scientific in nature, needs bipartisanship. This cannot be a partisan issue or one that gets subsumed by party politics or narrow interests. We can and we know how to compete in space. In the opening stages of the Cold War, the Soviet Union set nearly every milestone from the first satellite to the first person in orbit. We were caught on the backfoot, but surged ahead, captured the country’s spirit and imagination, and planted the American flag on the moon.”
Mike Rogers

The United States is being left behind in the new space race, which puts American innovation at risk. Now, we are not in the great space race with the Soviet Union—we are racing against China.

China is continuing to break barriers, and the United States is being left behind. Our public leaders need to work together to ensure America does not lose its standing in the world, especially when it comes to space.

We must continue to make innovative strides towards dominating in science and technology, here on earth and above. This is the way to ensure China knows we are serious about being the free world’s leader, and lets our allies know we are willing to do the work to do so.