In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, a shiny orb with protruding radio antennas, and the United States freaked out.
At the time, even President Dwight Eisenhower had a cautions message, explaining that “so far as the satellite itself is concerned, that does not raise my apprehensions, not one iota.” But there was plenty of drummed up worry to go around with talk of Soviets controlling space and a yawning technology gap. That fear wasn’t all bad. It pushed Eisenhower to create the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and NASA. He also signed the National Defense Education Act and in 1969, Project Apollo successfully landed the first humans on the moon.
Those projects, whatever their merit, pushed the U.S. to out-compete the U.S.S.R., while also leading to the development of new technology, including the basis of the Internet. These cemented U.S. world leadership.
Although the Soviet Union has been relegated to the history books, the U.S. faces new challenges and a new technological rival: China.
While the divide between Washington and Beijing is not a new cold war, China’s ambitions when it comes to technological dominance, including in space, are real concerns. And the most recent example of China’s ambitions is the Thursday morning landing of the unmanned Chang’e 4 on the far side of the moon — notable because China is the first country to land a craft there.
That accomplishment has little of the clout that Sputnik did, in part because the United States has continued to lead the way in space development. Indeed, on the first day of the new year, the NASA craft New Horizons photographed Ultima Thule, the most distant object ever explored by a space craft and located 4 billion miles from Earth.
But that does not mean that Washington should be complacent. China hopes not just to compete with the U.S. but surpass it in space and in other advanced technology. Already there are troubling indications of how that technology may be used with real military applications. Over the past year, for example, China and Russia partnered for a series of experiments where they successfully manipulated the the ionosphere, with the potential to disrupt communications.
That, even if not front page news, should be good for at least a little old-fashioned concern and a real push to better compete with China.
Instead, the agencies designed to meet those challenges, like NASA, remain shuttered, and the latest bill on STEM education signed by President Trump includes funding that Congress may not provide. Likewise, the plan released by the White House in December on STEM education hits the right notes but does little to lay out how to make its goals reality.
On the other side of the world, non-democratic Beijing has no such obstacles to funding its program. The government has aggressively pushed for new partnerships with universities around the world especially when it comes to science and technology. The country has also made space and technology a national priority, openly expressing the desire to become a “space power” while also promoting initiatives such as Made in China 2025.
To stay ahead, the best option for Washington is to follow Eisenhower’s advice and meet the challenge with “resourcefulness and vigor.”
The Chinese moon landing was a good reminder, and we shouldn’t wait around for a surprise like Sputnik to galvanize action.
