United States’ 34^th President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, played a key role in establishing outer space as a domain for peaceful use and exploration available to all. On Wednesday, September 16^th 2020, in a webinar organised by CSIS Aerospace Security, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and CEO and Chairman of The Eisenhower Group, Inc. Susan Eisenhower reminisced about how the latter’s grandfather’s actions in the dawn of the space age were instrumental in having the space environment become what it is today: a domain that every State can use and explore freely, where collaboration is encouraged so as to benefit humanity as a whole.

President Eisenhower created NASA as a response to the USSR’s Sputnik launch in October 1957, as Administrator Bridenstine explained. It would have been easy to respond to the Soviet Union’s successful orbiting of the Earth as the media expected at the time: by denouncing the USSR for putting weapons in outer space, and overflying U.S.’ territory. However, President Eisenhower had other ideas. As Susan Eisenhower highlighted, he saw outer space as a domain where the “open skies” doctrine that had failed with regards to airspace could succeed. Space, according to President Eisenhower, should be accessible to all, which is why he emphasized the importance to use it for scientific purposes.

Hence the creation of NASA, an agency separate from the military. He saw science as a tool for diplomacy, an instrument that could unite countries in a way that a military organisation would be unable to do. That is why the message transmitted from the SCORE satellite (launched on 18 December 1958) was a message of peace, a Christmas greeting that manifested “America’s wish for peace on Earth and good will towards men everywhere.”

To this day, Eisenhower’s vision for an outer space that is used to unite people is still alive. The International Space Station is a prime example of this. It is considered a diplomatic miracle, which has been operated by fifteen nations. It has received astronauts from nineteen countries, and experiments from 103 countries have been conducted therein. It has been crewed since November 2000 by astronauts and cosmonauts alike, proving that in the midst of geopolitical tensions, peaceful coexistence and cooperation for a common goal are possible. This is a clear reflection of President Eisenhower’s vision, who was particularly focused on diplomacy and peace after World War II.

But this collaborative spirit does not stop with the ISS: NASA has conducted or is currently conducting many other missions in partnership with many other actors, and currently has over 700 active agreements with different nations worldwide.

However, as Susan Eisenhower pointed out, this does not mean that outer space is a sanctuary for peace. Although he wanted peace in space, President Eisenhower was cognisant that it was a militarised domain. He understood that space could be used for military purposes as long as these were peaceful. An example of this are reconnaissance satellites. Militarisation can, after all, be used to achieve peace, such as using intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to ensure that States comply with arms control treaties. What he did not support, however, was the weaponization of space, a danger that threatens the space domain to this day. Nefarious actors willing to destabilise the environment of space are a real concern and this is the reason why the U.S. has taken steps to counter that threat, such as the creation of the Space Force.

Nevertheless, NASA remains a non-military agency that is willing to collaborate with all, provided that countries comply with certain rules that ensure space sustainability. In this sense NASA has an important soft power. The Artemis programme highlights this very clearly: it is a way to implement rules in space that, as Administrator Bridenstine said, represent American values such as freedom of access and freedom of commerce. It is the hope of NASA that applying these values beyond the borders of the United States will result in peace and closer international cooperation.

In this line, NASA announced one week ago (on September 10^th) its intention to buy lunar resources from commercial companies, in an effort to inspire private actors to invest in outer space. This has the double goal of, firstly, strengthening the interpretation that resource extraction is fully in compliance with the Outer Space Treaty, since it does not constitute an appropriation of the Moon or any celestial bodies for national sovereignty. Secondly, it seeks to promote the establishment of a strategic framework for nations to operate on the Moon.

President Eisenhower’s legacy in space has led the U.S.’, and the world, to where we are today. Space is still nowadays a beacon of hope. It is not devoid of geopolitical tensions, but it is certainly seen as a domain where collaboration and diplomacy must prevail for the benefit, and the betterment, of all humankind.

Summary by Almudena Azcárate Ortega