What is "me-too-ism?" It is a malady that afflicts much of the space industry. It is a cultural phenomenon that keeps people and organizations doing what they have done over-and-over again.
It is sometimes referred to as "doing business as usual." Many of us in the business want to perpetuate this culture. We have spent millions of labor-hours and hundreds of millions of dollars to protect this way of life.
As a result, billion-dollar space systems and programs have failed to deliver on promises.
The U.S. space program is quickly becoming "second-rate" and falling behind many other countries in terms of technologies, systems and successes.
The Government has not been helping. Congress has successfully barricaded many of our products, services and technologies behind the "ITAR curtain."
NASA is a rudderless ship. No one is in charge of national security space. Where are the leaders and the leadership? Innovation and creativity are almost nowhere to be found in government agencies and contractor organizations.
There are a few bright spots in the commercial/entrepreneurial world. In the launch business, there is spaceX. In the satellite business, there are several small satellite developers.
In the human spaceflight arena, there are many exciting activities. But, this is not enough to sustain American space leadership.
The traditional space community needs to rethink its priorities, approaches and objectives to create a vibrant and exciting set of space goals for the future. Otherwise, there may be no future U.S. space leadership role.
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