The Evolution of the Space Race
By: Holden Charles
Tags: NASA, Jeff Bezos, Space Exploration, Spacex, Elon Musk

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched the first artificial satellite into Earth’s orbit. Sputnik 1 captured the imagination of millions, even sparking a spell of intense anxiety among Americans that their efforts in self-government were finally outmatched.

Outgoing President Dwight Eisenhower (left) shakes hands with President-elect John Kennedy

President Dwight Eisenhower did not share these concerns. He had recently dispatched federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, in a now-famous showdown between a president offering federal protection to black Americans threatened by discriminatory state laws and the segregationist Governor Orval Faubus.

The press, however, was more interested in the Communist ball orbiting the Earth whose batteries would ultimately die after three weeks. People were concerned at first with the notion that the Soviet Union had made a significant technological leap unbeknownst to the west. Their concern grew only more acute when the president snapped at a reporter that Sputnik “doesn’t raise my apprehensions, not one iota.” Eisenhower insisted that the only advantage the Soviets had gained was a psychological one.

Perhaps he harbored anxieties surrounding the growth of a military-industrial complex, as he made abundantly clear in his 1961 farewell address. He had weighed the opposing threats of Soviet dominance and unchecked elite military power in America feeding off peoples’ fears and concluded the latter to be more dire.

The launch of Sputnik 1

His successor did not share these apprehensions. President John Kennedy boldly declared “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard.” Kennedy believed that by harnessing the powers of innovation and motivation that America could once again lead the race to the future by capturing imaginations. He made the case that if we are not here to reach for the next frontier, then what are we here for?

Eisenhower feared an ever-growing gap in wealth and knowledge that would lead to a rule by “technological elites” who stomped on the will of the people. Kennedy saw the vast opportunities for the growth of freedom, peace and shared prosperity, should Americans rise to the challenge.

In 2021, these opposing visions have merged into one. Those who are seeking to harness the ingenuity of Americans for a greater purpose are the technological elites who have amassed monumental power.

The space race of the twenty-first century is not one between the powers of democracy and autocracy. The Chinese Communist Party landed their nation’s first rover on Mars just this year, a feat achieved by NASA in 1997. Autocratic forces have receded from the space race as American wealth grew to create companies that rival the power of governments. It is now a race between billionaire entrepreneurs who appear to have replaced NASA — established by Eisenhower in 1957 —on the frontier of technological innovation.

One fear that Eisenhower and Kennedy shared was the potential for space to become a battleground for experimental, chaotic and high-stakes warfare. Has the evolution of the space race from the mid-twentieth century to now bettered our prospects of a free and peaceful exploration of the beyond?

SpaceX rocket launch

The waters of outer space have yet to be fully tested. For years, American and Russian scientists and astronauts have served honorably in a shared pursuit of science aboard the International Space Station. Territorial disagreements on moons and planets beyond our home have yet to arise. History suggests against a peaceful exploration of new lands, but the idea of leaving our home planet permanently for the first time is unprecedented.

In 2017, NASA formalized plans to revitalize American ambitions in space with the Artemis Program. The goals of the program include a new space station orbiting the moon called the Lunar Gateway which will serve as a springboard to construction of a moon base and future missions to Mars. President Donald Trump endorsed the plan and pushed NASA to put the “first woman and the next man” on the moon by 2024.

The Artemis Program survived the transition to President Joe Biden’s administration, affirming that the United States is once again committed to its pursuit of the beyond.

Yet Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic appear to be the driving forces behind the emerging space race. Bezos and Branson have both successfully traveled outside Earth’s atmosphere in rockets they built. Musk notched a nearly $3 billion deal with NASA that will use SpaceX rockets in the institution’s mission to return to the moon.

Financial incentives will now drive the leaders of the space race. Musk has proven that innovation can indeed provide fuel to the drive to colonize other worlds — fuel that government efforts have lacked for decades — while Bezos and Branson have proven that commercial space travel is both safe and viable.

The paradoxical realization of Eisenhower’s worst fears and Kennedy’s highest ambitions leaves Americans with a slate of new questions about how the mission will be handled. The cooperation of private and public enterprise promises to vindicate the American dream, yet how many will live that dream? Is space to become a haven for the technological elite while millions are left behind on an uninhabitable planet?

Tesla Roadster put into orbit by SpaceX. The screen reads “Don’t panic!”

Perhaps not. Perhaps the next generation will realize the American dream more fully than ever before as entrepreneurs build sprawling cities on the moon and tourists orbit Mars.

Elon Musk often says that fate loves irony. The evolution of the space race proves just that in realizing both people’s fears of control by a wealthy elite and dreams of innovation fueling accessibility of space to millions. Questions about future space expansion are not going to have answers for a long time; they are questions that we will continue to ask ourselves throughout the journey as our world evolves.

The question then becomes where we choose to put our trust. Eisenhower warned against trusting individuals like Musk and Bezos with this endeavor, but how much closer to space did his administration bring us? Or the administrations of the post-Cold War era?

Government repeatedly failed to act over budget concerns and a lack of initiative. The technological leaps made by SpaceX changed the paradigm of the budget debate by inventing reusable rockets, eliminating the need to build a single-use rocket costing tens of billions of dollars for each mission.

The lesson may be that the most desirable outcome is the traditional American way, somewhere in the middle. Pure financial incentives have driven us to harm our planet’s habitability and barrelling down this track full steam ahead predicts the development of space into a haven for those rich enough to escape natural disaster on Earth. Government control of the space race has produced inaction and disinterest, offering little hope or incentive for developing space infrastructure.

The state of the space race today suggests collaboration and the continued pursuit of American values. Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson are starting the commercialization of space, yet their infrastructure will orbit next to NASA space stations building bridges to new homes.

The technological elite drive the space race. For now, their incentives indicate a desire to uphold NASA’s values and vision but a lack of faith in its ability to make that vision a reality.