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There's a New Space Race, and US Is Losing
Rest of the world collaborates while fearful US falls behind
By Harry Kimball
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Posted Jul 9, 08 2:19 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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While the rest of the world cooperates incessantly on all matters extraterrestrial, the US, hampered by self-imposed regulations meant to keep weapons out of enemies' hands, is swiftly losing dominance of the final frontier, the Washington Post reports. The US’ military space program is still gargantuan, but the civil program, NASA included, suffers from “limited public interest in space activity.”
The US used to launch satellites for other countries, and export technology and material that other nations used in their space programs. But the country is largely out of the launch business, and fears that China and Iran will weaponize space have decimated exports, leading one expert to say other nations are "falling over each other to work together in space; they want to share the costs and the risks,"