As governments shoot for the stars, partnerships fuel their rise

The spectacular images delivered by the James Webb Space Telescope offer us all a humbling pause and perspective of our place in the universe and reveal how much more there is yet to be discovered. The look at the dawn of time is also a needed reminder of how global partnerships with governments, industry and research institutions can make the unimaginable possible.  

Webb’s success is a revolutionary moment for science, engineering and cooperation that opens a window to see nearly 14 billion light-years away. Traveling that distance may be physically out of our reach, but the booming global space industry on Earth is already tackling innovations needed for future moon and Mars travel and exploration. At the same time, brilliant minds around the world research the technologies that could take us to distant stars as well as deliver even more innovations for life on Earth.   

A report released today by Space Foundation reveals in 2021 alone, 90 nations came together to create a record $469 billion global space economy, and all signs point to continued exponential growth. More countries and hundreds of cutting-edge companies will soon enter this domain, seeking what every space-engaged populace desires — access and opportunity.  

All effort and money aimed toward our orbit and beyond shows Earth has reached a new epoch — a time when space hosts the critical infrastructure upon which all other infrastructures depend. Like the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Industrial Age, the long-anticipated Space Age has fully arrived for humankind.  

Without space, there’s little national security and economies stop without satellites and other space-dependent applications. With unprecedented government and commercial space spending, our dependence on space and the opportunities space can deliver will only increase.  

In the first six months of this year, the world launched more active orbital spacecraft (1,022) than in the first 52 years of the Space Age (1957-2009, 986) combined. With that pace of launch activity combined and with government spending increasing to 19 percent and commercial spending at 6 percent over the past year, space infrastructures and architectures have woven themselves into every facet of life, while becoming more intricate and complex than ever before.  

Operating in the harsh environment beyond Earth’s atmosphere remains challenging but the past year has proven that partnerships can overcome the highest hurdles. With eight new government and commercial space stations planned over the next decade, cooperation has become just as important as individual national leadership. Despite challenges of international politics, including the Ukraine-Russia conflict of these past months and Russia’s recent announcement it will leave the International Space Station (ISS) in 2024, ISS and its more than two decades of crewed operations are a cornerstone upon which to build.  

While it is impossible to remove politics from everything, when we set that aside, there is no problem the professionalism and capabilities working-level space operators cannot handle.  

Today’s space renaissance is truly remarkable. Even with its setbacks in terms of development and costs, the James Webb Space Telescope also offers an impressive blueprint to follow. Building on the lessons from Hubble and other projects, global partners assembled from government, industry and research created and launched the most sophisticated telescope in human history. Each brought vision, expertise and investment to the table.  

Just like the orbiting laboratory ISS, Webb is proof that once assembled, the global diversity of talent can achieve incredible things that not only make history and improve our understanding of our shared universe but also inspire generations to step forward and find their place within it.  

The same holds true with the global space economy. As much as people associate spending on space with creating revolutionary technologies, in truth, space is ultimately an investment in people. No technology ever gets there on its own; it starts with creativity, curiosity, and tenacity.  

Every person possesses those necessary ingredients. Investment in education — at every level — will build pathways to discovery and inspire positive change worldwide. National ambitions will always drive individual countries to make their entry into space, but there is also a human element in being part of a team in pursuit of lofty goals.  

Alliances made between governments, industry and education brought us to this Space Age, a time when space is the most inventive and important driver of today’s critical infrastructures and economies.  

The Space Age has arrived, and it is up to us to deliver its promise for new generations. While America remains the world’s dominant spacefaring nation, it has longtime allies and strategic competitors such as China, India, Europe, Russia and others accelerating their efforts in the global space ecosystem.  

Together, friends and rivals can overcome terrestrial tempests that roil world politics and harness the creativity of humankind to reach for the distant stars Webb has only just begun to reveal. 

Tom Zelibor, Rear Admiral, USN (Ret.) is CEO of Space Foundation, a 501(c)(3) global space advocate headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo.