America is headed back to space. This time we'll stay there.

Why the new generation of U.S. space exploration will last

A rocket ship.
(Image credit: Illustrated | iStock)

If the predictions of the starry-eyed futurists of the 1960s had been right, humanity would already be a multiplanetary civilization. They expected colonies on the moon and Mars by the early 21st century, if not sooner. That obviously hasn't happened. Even so, America may finally be ready to forge the sort of bold future in space — from near-Earth orbit to our closest neighbors and then beyond — that it abandoned decades ago.

Last year saw the United States return to human spaceflight when a SpaceX rocket ferried NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. Elon Musk's rocket company is also now operating its Starlink global satellite internet service, with big plans to expand. Last month, NASA successfully landed the car-sized Perseverance rover on Mars. And there's plenty more to come over the rest of the year, including tests of two competing mega-rockets: NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) and SpaceX's Starship. Both are heavy-lift launch vehicles critical to carrying large amounts of cargo — including passengers — into orbit, as well as manned journeys to our neighbors in space.

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James Pethokoukis

James Pethokoukis is the DeWitt Wallace Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he runs the AEIdeas blog. He has also written for The New York Times, National Review, Commentary, The Weekly Standard, and other places.