Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is entering the technology space race with an institute dabbling in artificial intelligence (AI), advanced defense systems, energy and resources, health and biotechnology.
The ALFA Institute, which derives its name from a crucial NASA platform to land a man on the moon, was documented in Tom Wolfe’s tectonic book “The Right Stuff.” The nonprofit accelerator for policy and ideas is motivated in great part to address competition with China, which launched an uncrewed lunar mission in May, according to CNN.
“As we approach America’s 250th anniversary, our nation faces an inflection point — with a new type of a technological space race underway,” McCarthy said on AFLA Institute’s web site. “Advancements in industries such as manufacturing, defense, energy and artificial intelligence (AI) all have the power to propel our society forward.”
“Yet they also see competitor nations, such as China, racing to secure the next breakthrough,” added McCarthy, who established the bipartisan House Select Committee on China to foster collaboration between lawmakers and top research universities. “For America to continue as the world’s leading force for good, our government, private sector and idea leaders must collaborate.”
ALFA’s emergence comes less than two months before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House with an agenda that could have sweeping implications for the space industry.
Experts in space policy anticipate a whirl of activity from moon landings to space-defense initiatives to major funding for rockets and satellites.
Indeed, Trump’s first term marked the creation of the Artemis program to return humans to the moon for the first time since the Apollo era, as well as formation of the U.S. Space Force, the first new military service since 1947. Trump has vowed to buttress American military defenses in space through a Space National Guard, something members of Congress have supported for a few years but with little traction.
Then there is the outsize influence of Elon Musk, one of Trump’s closest advisers. According to a New York Times report, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Inc. has asked Trump to hire SpaceX employees as top government officials, including the Defense Department.
Musk, who has been tasked to slash government spending through the nascent Department of Government Efficiency, could also weigh in on easing regulatory issues surrounding Starship, a reusable rocket being developed by SpaceX to transport people and cargo to the moon and Mars.
Meanwhile, Trump’s nominee for chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, could grant billions of dollars in federal subsidies to Musk’s Starlink satellite-internet service, according to a Politico report last month.
Carr has argued the FCC should quicken the manner in which it reviews and approves satellite launch applications for Starlink and Amazon.com Inc.’s Kuiper to ensure American companies control the future of the space-based internet. Carr told Politico he would handle such funding situations with an even hand.
