Space exploration is an issue that has been increasingly removed from the public sphere. During the time of the space race it was a very hot topic but in recent years, many people have lost interest or stopped paying attention. There are some people who are very passionate one way or another: space exploration is very important or space exploration is a waste of time, money and resources. What many people do not understand or realize is that space exploration does so much more for the people on Earth than meets the eye. By looking at the spending of the government on space exploration, the return of money to the economy and the huge variety of services and information provided to the United States because of this research, we can see that the spending for space exploration needs to be increased rather than decreased. This is important because with the changing of presidencies, the budgets of many programs are subject to change and the space financial plan needs to be secured for the sake of the economy, the environment and the technological world of the United States of America.

A major problem in the United States’ government is that it “is in huge debt and is adding to that every year with the deficit, which has prompted many to push for a more balanced budget” (McBrien). This has been an enormous issue in this country. The question posed in response to this is: does governmental spending need to be decreased or does revenue need to be increased? A popular assumption is that decreasing spending is the best solution to this problem. Spending cuts have been a serious concern for many governmental programs that have lost support. One program that has been subject to a significant decrease in budget is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This is not likely to be successful because the return of money put into the space industry is very high. It is estimated that every dollar spent on NASA returns ten dollars to the economy. It has been estimated that “more than 60% of this came from commercial goods and services created by companies related to space technology. The space economy includes commercial space products and services, as well as commercial infrastructure and support industries” (Amadeo). This is because of NASA’s unique position of providing so many technological advances which lead to goods and services used in daily life.

There are so many technological discoveries that never would have been made had it not been for space exploration. Of course there are simple technologies such as batteries, eyeglasses, the global positioning system (GPS), weather satellites and global telecommunication services that most people know the importance of and the origin of (Dominguez). In addition to all of these technologies used daily, there are so many more that most people have no idea were developed through space technologies. NASA has an entire department dedicated to tracking the technological utilization and industry application of their efforts (Dominguez). This department puts out a list of spinoffs, or new technologies that were developed from their efforts. One example of a spinoff is solar power which was revolutionized by shuttle engine designs and put to use in a solar reserve that provides electricity for 75,000 homes in Nevada (Dominguez). There are many other examples as well such as spaceflight software that is used now to help fight bank fraud, new LED lights that help plants grow and a unique logic game that helps people learn to focus by monitoring their brainwaves that was developed in the 1980s by NASA to help pilots stay focused (Dominguez). Another very important technology that NASA uses to take satellite images of stars is actually used nowadays to detect Alzheimer’s in the human brain (Dominguez). This is just a select few of the over 1800 technologies and projects that NASA has been providing to the United States since 1962. Many government organizations are working with the aeronautics team to improve air transportation and to preserve the United States’ leadership in aviation across the globe (Dunbar). As well as keeping leadership in global aviation, they are developing new and more advanced technologies to send astronauts further into the solar system than anyone has ever been (Dunbar). There is so much information waiting out in the unknown areas of outer space that NASA is working to uncover.

With all of these discoveries, projects and technological advances it is no surprise that space exploration and technology returns the money put into it tenfold. In addition to being great for getting money moving in the economy, all of these projects provide jobs to so many people. In the case of NASA, “Cutting spending [to NASA] also harms the economy because it cuts jobs” (McBrien). Not only does it not provide any relief in debt, it actually harms the economy to cut spending from NASA. Many people benefit from “the fact that a space agency and its network of contractors, universities and other entities help people stay employed” (Howell). The one drawback here is that the budget for NASA is preset which has an effect on how many people can be hired. The STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields are growing at extremely fast rates and NASA is in part responsible for providing jobs to this as well as inspiration to young students to pursue these careers. In fact, NASA has three main educational goals: “making the workforce stronger, encouraging students to pursue STEM careers, and ‘engaging Americans in NASA’s mission’” (Howell). They are successful in inspiring students because of their many projects. For example, NASA regularly has astronauts do conferences in-flight and informing the youth of America of the projects and explorations occurring in modern day space research (Howell).

It has been established that NASA is contributing a fair share to the technological, economic and educational realms. In addition to this, they are transforming science and the understanding of the world that has been established (Paxson). One extremely important area of study is the environment. Earth is being studied now using spacecraft to help to answer crucial questions about “climate change, sea level rise, freshwater resources and extreme weather events” (Dunbar). Numerous missions are currently studying the solar system and the sun in order to solve mysteries about the origins of the solar system and its evolution (Dunbar). New telescopes are helping with this research by reaching new areas of the universe and back to the earliest moments of existence which helps in these studies to understand the universe’s origin and evolution as well as the future (Dunbar). Another important discovery, particularly in the context of the sever environmental concerns facing Earth, is that Mars once had conditions suitable for life. With plans to explore Mars in the near future, NASA may become capable of answering a long standing mystery of the universe: Is there life beyond Earth? (Dunbar). 

With the recent inauguration of Donald Trump, many things already have changed but the future for many programs is still up in the air. NASA particularly should be concerned about cuts in their budget “given the President-elect's position and past statements on climate science, there has been speculation that his presidency will curtail funding to some of their research efforts, particularly those that are maintained by the Earth Science Directorate” (Williams). Mr. Trump is a very big advocate for cutting government spending where he feels that it is unnecessary. It is impossible to speculate exactly what the new space policies will be, but in general Republicans have moved to cut funding from NASA because their efforts to track climate change using Earth-observing weather satellites are its most politically controversial work” (Fernholz).  This is particularly important to continue funding because the environmental health of the planet is declining.

Many suggest that space exploration and research is a waste of time, money and resources. The main argument is that the money being used in space could be better utilized on Earth. For example, DeGroot suggests that “obscenely expensive manned missions mean that practical, earth-based science suffers, as does the genuinely valuable satellite research so essential to the way we live today” (DeGroot).  These critics argue that the money spent in space is only hurting Americans, not helping. Skeptics also suggest that “expensive space missions add credence to fundamentalist allegations about American spiritual vacuity” (DeGroot). NASA itself is also making steps to decrease spending within their own business. The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) did a study to determine the actions NASA needs to take to improve long term affordability of their programs. It explains NASA’s short sighted budgeting and their other problems. The GAO’s study focused mainly on three programs: “the Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle to launch astronauts and carry cargo into space, the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (Orion) capsule that will launch atop the SLS and carry the astronauts, and the Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) to support such activities as assembly, test and launch of the SLS and Orion,” (Gibbs 4). It explores the fundamental costs of these programs. Gibbs acknowledges that “these programs represent a significant investment for the country” (Gibbs 14). Despite this large investment, the GAO has determined at a “70 percent confidence level that NASA has improved the SLS program’s overall risk posture” (Gibbs 69). While these programs are not entirely set, due to the incomplete budget report, the GAO has determined that they are on their way to low risk, good investments.

In spite of the evidence that suggests NASA is not the place to do so, it is clear that the government’s spending has exceeded what can be sustained and cuts will need to be made somewhere. To those who still believe that NASA is the place to start with these decreases of funding, there are other solutions. There may be no way around decreasing the spending from the government on space, but there is also no way to ignore the massive benefits of space research. Losing space research altogether is not an option. The privatization of the space industry is a possible solution to this. Privatization of space simply means that private investors put their money into commercial companies that in turn do their own work in the space industry. When private investors are involved, the fate of the entire industry does not revolve around the amount of money that the government provides. This is a promising solution because “thanks to advances in technology, reduced costs and the interest of high-profile billionaires, the space industry is experiencing a renaissance” (Bird). This even takes away the limits set on what can be done because there are no government regulated tasks to be done when using private money. The biggest problem with this as a solution is “Potential conflicts can [also] come from legislation. The Federal Aviation Act imposes limits on States to make legislation regarding commercial air travel. It can be costly for businesses to sort out these potential conflicts and it is often a deterrent to even engaging in the business” (Livingston). Trump and his administration are “seriously considering a major new initiative to privatize much of the space sector, promote a return to the moon by 2020, and aim for Mars and other Solar System targets soon thereafter” (Scaliger). With the new presidential administration in favor of this, some of the financial concerns should be eliminated. The policy being considered will involve “such revolutionary moves as fully privatizing lower-earth orbit, allowing for the mass deployment of private space stations, and freeing up NASA to return to cutting-edge research in new realms like manned exploration of interplanetary space” (Scaliger). These plans are receiving some resistance from major corporations, but there is an equal amount of young technological entrepreneurs that have already made remarkable advances in space technology to fight against the resistance to the new plan (Scaliger). While government spending on space exploration has more or less plateaued, commercial spending has been increasing at a relatively steady rate since 1990 as well as increased revenues (Roy). Commercial rocket launches are on the rise while government launches have been decreasing since 1994 (Roy). The future for the commercial space industry looks bright and can only continue to improve with proper interest and funding, making it a viable solution to the problem of a lack of government funding.

While the space industry has been removed from the realm of popular political conversation since the 1960s, the rise of technology and social media has brought it forward in the public sphere in the last decade. Based on several studies done to discover the responsiveness of the government budget for NASA based on public opinion: “It appears that policy is in fact responsive to both sides of the issue, providing what the people want in regards to reducing funding for NASA as a percentage of the budget while responding to supporters of the space program by increasing funding in real dollars” (Steinberg). Based on these trends, the improvement of public opinion which is on the rise could result in more funding provided by the government. The support seems to be increasing, however, “the overlaps between the years are very close, but Gallup finds more support for space program spending overall. However, Launius also showed that many people do not actually know the amount of funding NASA receives, so those advocating leaving it the same could be choosing that as a “don’t know” option and further demonstrating their lack of knowledge of space policy issues” (Steinberg). If the knowledge and interest in the space industry, it would be good for not only the future of space research but the future of the planet.

The controversy of space funding has been the most conversation had about the entire industry since the space race in the 1960s. The knowledge of the issue is finally starting to increase and if past statistics continue, the government funding should be responsive to the public’s opinions. While knowledge is increasing, it is still an issue removed from the eye of the public in many cases. As an industry that provides so much to the country, it needs to become a more popular issue in order to improve environmental conditions, the economy and education as well as keep technology advancing at such rapid rates to improve life on Earth and to discover new life on other planets. Continuing the advancement of commercialized space companies can majorly help the industry at large, as well as help to increase public knowledge on the happenings of research in space. Space research needs to become a priority in order to improve life in the United States and to improve the economy.
