Sen. Cruz: 'America Should Be the Unquestioned Leader in Space'

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competiveness, today participated in The Atlantic's On the Launchpad: Return to Deep Space forum. There he discussed his efforts to advance America's leadership in space with Ross Andersen, senior editor for science, technology and health for The Atlantic. Sen. Cruz also announced he will chair a hearing of the Space subcommittee on Tuesday, May 23 titled ‘Reopening the American Frontier: Exploring How the Outer Space Treaty Will Impact American Commerce and Settlement in Space' which will examine the 50-year anniversary of the Outer Space Treaty and how it will impact commercial opportunities in space.

"America should be the unquestioned leader in space," Sen. Cruz said. "That is going to take a bipartisan commitment and leadership coming from Congress. In my view the next major milestone is going to Mars, which we codified in the NASA Authorization Act. It is important to set big, bold goals to unify the scientific community, to unify the exploration efforts. Going to Mars is not going to be easy, but it's worth doing and I think it helps unify and propel space exploration going forward."

Sen. Cruz previously worked with his colleagues to secure the passage of the 2015 Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, legislation which received bipartisan support and praise from various space industry leaders. The bipartisan Cruz-Nelson NASA Transition Authorization Act, signed into law earlier this year, extends the International Space Station until 2024 and ensures stability for the future development and growth of the U.S. commercial space sector in Texas and the entire nation.

Video footage of Sen. Cruz's appearance may be found here.

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