WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is releasing some final space policy documents focused on cislunar activities and technology development.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a policy memorandum on December 18 guiding the development of a cislunar reference system necessary for future navigation on and around the Moon, as well as a plan cislunar scientific and technological action.
THE memorandum directs the federal government, led by NASA, to develop “common reference systems” for the Moon, providing an implementation plan to the White House by the end of 2026. Such reference systems provide a means to determine position and direction and the ability to convert to other reference systems, such as those centered on the Earth.
“A common understanding of reference systems on the Moon is essential for safe navigation, scientific discovery and commercial activity, just as it is on Earth,” Arati Prabhakar, OSTP director, said in the memo. “Now is the time for the United States to lead a coordinated approach to establishing reference systems on the Moon, while these fundamental and complementary standards for cislunar activities are being defined and infrastructure on the Moon is being developed. construction course.”
The memo on the cislunar frame of reference follows a similar memo from OSTP in April lead work on a timing system for the moon. This time standard must take into account the effects of general relativity that would cause a clock on the lunar surface to lose nearly 60 microseconds per day compared to a clock on Earth, creating navigation and other challenges.
NASA would lead the development of this new cislunar reference system, working with the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Interior, State and Transportation. The memo also calls on agencies to work with the international community on this proposal.
OSTP also released a 15-page document National Cislunar Action Plan for Science and Technology. This plan aims to implement a cislunar scientific and technological strategy the office was released in 2022. This strategy set four goals to support research and development of cislunar activities, expand international scientific and technological cooperation, expand space situational awareness (SSA) capabilities in cislunar space and develop cislunar communication and navigation systems.
The first objective, supporting research and development of cislunar activities, includes a series of tasks aimed at enabling a “sustainable” human presence in cislunar space, conducting scientific activities, and supporting the workforce. NASA is responsible for most of these tasks, although the Department of Defense is the lead agency for tasks related to manpower issues.
The second goal, expanding international science and technology cooperation, supports the concept of an International Lunar Year by the end of the decade, with the State Department leading this work and the goal of submitting a proposal to the United Nations General Assembly by 2026. Another key area is international cooperation on best practices for safe cislunar activities.
For cislunar SSA, the action plan guides work to identify needs and gaps, as well as efforts to develop or improve sensors on the ground and in space. It includes the development of an “integrated catalog of cislunar objects” jointly by NASA, the Department of Defense and the Department of Commerce, as well as efforts to share data with others who operate in cislunar space .
The end goal calls for the creation of a national communications and position, navigation and synchronization architecture, with a NASA-led interagency group tasked with developing and overseeing this architecture. The plan endorses the development of standards to make this architecture interoperable with commercial and international systems.
In most cases, the plan does not set specific deadlines for the actions included, only stating that it covers efforts over the next five years. “Federal departments and agencies should implement these actions consistent with a fundamental tenet of the strategy: that one of the primary long-term interests of the United States in cislunar space is to help shape the future “rules of road” and international governance for the external space. space activities, consistent with the Space Priorities Framework and the United States National Security Strategy,” the plan states.