Bush’s New Space Policy: To Infinity and Beyond

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Via Secrecy News, we learn that the Bush administration just cranked out a new National Space Policy. Much of it’s similar to Clinton-era policy, but there are some stellar exceptions. Like this one:

The previous policy prudently reserved judgment “on the feasibility
and desirability of conducting further human exploration
activities” beyond the International Space Station in Earth orbit.

But in a rhetorical flight of fancy, the new Bush policy purports
to adopt a new national “objective of extending human presence
across the solar system,” no less.

Less fanciful, yet more predictable, is the insistence that “The United States will oppose the development of new legal regimes or other restrictions that seek to prohibit or limit U.S. access to or use of space.” In other words, in space no one can hear you whine about international law.

Fact:

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