Is real-life ‘Star Wars’ America’s manifest destiny?
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However, beneath the talk of economic growth and high-paying aerospace jobs lies a more somber preoccupation with security. The order directs the Pentagon to demonstrate prototype missile defense technologies, an “Iron Dome for America” in space. The U.S. Space Force is no longer merely a passive observer but now must develop capabilities to directly counter threats. We are entering an era of satellite dogfighting, where maneuverable spacecraft practice close-approach maneuvers near U.S. assets. In 2024, intelligence revealed that Russia was developing a nuclear-powered vehicle capable of carrying a weapon into orbit, a development the order addresses by instructing agencies to draft plans for countering such placements.
Perhaps the most striking technical goal is the National Initiative for American Space Nuclear Power. The order calls for deploying nuclear reactors on the moon and in orbit by 2030. This deployment is a significant challenge, building small nuclear plants for extraterrestrial use, but it is seen as a necessary precursor for faster deep-space travel and energy-intensive lunar mining. The intent is to ensure that the foundational architecture of space activity, 50 or 100 years from now, bears a “Made in USA” stamp.
This drive for superiority explicitly equates technological progress with national destiny. The White House fact sheet links these efforts to a “pioneering legacy” that stretches from Lewis and Clark to the moon. The narrative is designed to rally public support, turning scientific milestones into geopolitical trophies. By connecting cosmic endeavors to broadband internet and weather forecasting, the administration tries to frame space superiority as a bread-and-butter issue rather than a merely abstract concern. Yet it cannot answer the deeper questions about our relationship with space. Marshall McLuhan once noted that with satellite technology, the Earth has become a “global theater” enclosed by a man-made environment. From this god’s-eye view, the planet becomes a dataset to manipulate rather than a home to nurture.
The order bets squarely on expansion, following the logic of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who said that, while Earth is the cradle of humanity, one cannot live in a cradle forever. However, as we venture out, the stakes are not merely who gets there first, or who builds the most, but whether our reach for the stars elevates the human spirit or merely extends our appetites into the void. The destiny we are shaping is, for the first time, interplanetary. Whether we go as guardian angels or warring gods remains the crucial question.
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