Even a modest national space program can have outsized benefits, argues Rose Croshier, the author of a new handbook on space development. She thinks every country should have some kind of space capability — or in other words, a strategy or program to use space resources and technology in pursuit of their interests. Governments should start by considering national priorities that have already generated interest and investment, then use space to pursue those goals, she said at a recent event hosted by the Center for Global Development, where she is a nonresident fellow.
“That’s how you make space capabilities real, versus this too big, too glamorous thing. Sometimes as space enthusiasts, we shoot ourselves in the foot, roll out beautiful slides, glossy pictures of all the stuff space can do,” she said. “But it becomes overwhelming, or too unreal, or impossible to do without a major lift. We have to make it more normal, more grounded to local issues for success.”
