New Report: U.S. Space Policy Needs a Course Correction

The U.S. can lead the next Space Age if NASA embraces private-sector innovations

NEW YORK, NY – The U.S. is on the brink of a true space renaissance—but only if it can fix NASA’s broken human-spaceflight program and support the growing boom of commercial space innovation and enterprise. In a new Manhattan Institute report, senior fellow James B. Meigs lays out a plan to reform NASA and streamline regulations, enabling both public and private players to drive the next great leap in space exploration.

Despite high-profile successes by private companies like SpaceX, Meigs warns that legacy regulations and NASA’s costly, slow-moving hardware programs are holding back American leadership in space. While China accelerates its lunar ambitions, the U.S. risks squandering its advantage with unsustainable spending and bureaucratic inertia.

At the center of the problem is NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), a decades-in-the-making rocket that has cost tens of billions of dollars but remains plagued by delays and an obsolete design. While the commercial space sector has rapidly advanced with reusable, cost-effective launch systems, NASA remains bogged down by cost-plus contracting, political favoritism, and mismanaged partnerships, putting crewed missions at risk.

To fix these problems and secure U.S. leadership in the new space race, the report offers four clear recommendations:

1. Retire the Space Launch System (SLS): NASA should end development of the SLS after the first successful crewed lunar landing and shift its focus to working with private launch providers.
2. Reform Launch Regulations: The Federal Aviation Administration must overhaul its current licensing framework for private spaceflight. Launch approvals are slow and unpredictable, threatening the rapid test cycles and launch cadences that reusable rockets now make possible.
3. Fix and Expand NASA’s Commercial Programs: NASA should recommit to the commercial model that made its Commercial Crew program a money-saving success—setting clear, limited requirements and giving private firms the freedom to innovate.
4. Restructure NASA for a New Era: NASA should focus on what it does best: advanced research, mission planning, and space science. While slapdash cuts to existing robotic missions are unwise, the agency’s uncrewed programs would benefit from judicious cost cutting. Long-delayed human missions will get back on track once NASA stops building its own bloated rockets. The money saved will allow more rapid ventures to the moon, Mars, and beyond.

Click here to read the full report.