by Charles Bolden He served as the 12th Administrator of NASA, making him only the second astronaut to hold that position. Bolden is the Founder & CEO Emeritus of The Charles F. Bolden Group
Ambassador Stuart Holliday he served as the United States Ambassador for Special Political Affairs at the United Nations (2003-2005) following presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. Holliday is the CEO of Meridian International Center, a non-partisan progressive institute that promotes global security and prosperity through effective leadership and diplomacy.
President Joe Biden’s April 2024 announcement that Japanese astronauts will join the upcoming Artemis mission was a significant milestone. For the first time, a non-American will set foot on the moon, ushering in a new era of international cooperation in space exploration.
Earlier, the United Nations and Japan proposed a resolution to ban the development of nuclear weapons in outer space, calling on all nations not to deploy any weapons of mass destruction in accordance with the 1967 treaty. Russia vetoed the resolution – a reminder of the constant danger of space turning into a battlefield. These recent developments highlight the critical role of diplomacy and international strategic partnerships in the developing space age.
The space race of the 20th century, characterized by competition and high barriers to entry, has changed. The playing field has expanded and the lack of traditional curators in the space has led to unparalleled opportunities for collaboration. The United States now leads, leading an international coalition that includes traditional allies, emerging space nations, and innovative private entities, through the complex political terrain of outer space. This evolution from competition to collaboration represents a significant change in how we approach the final frontier.
Over the past 50 years, space exploration has given humanity a platform to address some of our most pressing challenges. From climate change research and improving global communications networks to healthcare advances through zero-gravity research, space is essential for innovation and development.
By extending internet access to regions with limited telecommunications infrastructure, projects such as SpaceX’s Starlink or the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission are integrating remote communities into the global economy on an unprecedented scale. These can only be done through partnership with the private sector.
As the era of the International Space Station (ISS) draws to a close, the development of private space stations and the rise of commercial space activity signal a new phase of orbital diplomacy with companies such as Axiom Space leading the launch of its first modules. to the ISS in 2026 and in the late 2020s with station completion. This change requires a significant increase in collaboration between governments and the private sector to ensure that space remains secure, sustainable and can continue to provide vital benefits to all of society.
However, current space governance frameworks, including the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty, are outdated and no longer reflect the realities of today’s space activities and technologies. The US created the Artemis Convention in 2020, a non-binding set of principles and guidelines to promote a sustainable and collaborative future in space that has so far gathered 39 signatories to begin addressing this gap. The Hague Institute for Global Justice’s Washington Compact seeks to introduce private sector norms, recognizing the importance of corporate diplomacy in ensuring the stability of the privatized environment of low Earth orbit (LEO).
However, space is not a unipolar system, and competing alliances and alternative norms are emerging across the Global South. The US State Department released its first Space Strategic Framework in 2023 and kicked off its annual Space Diplomacy Week to broaden the base of space-minded nations and outline how we can encourage responsible behavior from all space actors ahead. From the US perspective, building relationships with emerging space nations and encouraging them to adopt democratic practices is critical.
The US has prioritized the African continent’s space economy, with Rwanda, Nigeria and Angola all joining the Artemis Alliance. However, other African countries – those joining the BRICS membership – have chosen to enter into space partnerships with China instead. China’s ambitions to be the leading force on the moon through its International Lunar Research Station have raised concerns about sovereign claims in space, which is strictly prohibited by the Outer Space Treaty.
Today’s practical craft should follow the principle of open diplomacy—that governments alone cannot build relationships with other nations. Global business executives, state and local leaders, scientists, and technologists must collaborate to shape international affairs.
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This also applies to space missions. While astronauts are critical and often act as the face of the mission, an entire supply chain put them there in the first place. Think of the scientists and engineers at mission control. The private companies contracted to participate in the mission through public-private partnerships. The foreign countries co-finance the mission. The success of the mission depends on the level of communication and trust between these actors, which diplomacy aims to facilitate.
The US has a responsibility to ensure equitable access to STEM education and diplomatic skills training across the country so that our space workforce is more representative of all Americans and has the tools they need to represent our country in space .
In this era of enormous possibilities for space exploration, it is imperative that we take a unified, diplomatic approach to securing our space frontier. By fostering collaboration among nations, industries and innovators, we not only protect the future of space, but also pave the way for a more interconnected and prosperous world and an era of unprecedented collaboration.
