The rebirth of the US space program: In through the out door

In the beginning there were two, two decades later a few, and now more than sixty countries have national space programs. The “culture” of space is changing as the world community joins - advancing New Space ideals vs. Old Space lessons learned. In observing the global space market evolve in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and North America, contrasts in behaviors between the established players and new entrants into the space enterprise are beginning to show. This paper will discuss behavioral trends within the US space enterprise that, while well intended, are isolating the US from the growing international space enterprise, and in doing so seem to be enabling a new space culture outside of the US. One can speculate, in a somewhat interesting twist, that removing the US from the world space market may ultimately hold opportunity to reinvigorate the US space community. This paper will discuss how the world market is evolving, identify the new behaviors that are coming into play, and offer suggestions for how the US space enterprise might benefit from these.