We sent a man to the moon, an extraordinary accomplishment. And the entire world watched that event with bated breath. It was just an extraordinary accomplishment for all of humanity, not just the United States, but we, of course, took special pride because that was an American project.
M. President, I worry very much that what we are seeing now is not a space race between the United States and other countries as to which nation will return to the moon and perhaps get to Mars, but a space race between Mr. Musk and Mr. Bezos, the two wealthiest people in America, as to who will gain control over NASA and future space explorations. In other words, if we are able to accomplish the extraordinary goal of sending a person to Mars I want the flag that will be flying on that planet to be the flag of the United States, not the flag of Space X or Blue Origin.
And, M. President, let's be clear. The $10 billion in this bill for Jeff Bezos and his space company Blue Origin is just the tip of the iceberg.
The reality is that the space economy - which today mostly consists of private companies using NASA facilities free of charge to launch satellites into orbit - is already very profitable and could become even more so in the future.
Bank of America predicts that by 2030 the space economy will triple in size to $1.4 trillion - that's trillion with a "t."
According to the most recent data, private corporations make over $94 billion in profits a year from goods or services that are used in space - profits that could not have been achieved without the assistance of NASA - a government agency funded by the taxpayers of America.
And while today we are talking about the profitability of satellites, sometime in the future - certainly not tomorrow or next month or next year but perhaps in our lifetime - the real money may come to those who figure out how to mine lucrative minerals on asteroids.
In 2015, the famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson predicted that, and I quote, "The first trillionaire there will ever be is the person who exploits the natural resources on asteroids " There's this vast universe of limitless energy and limitless resources. I look at wars fought over access to resources. That could be a thing of the past, once space becomes our backyard."
M. President, who gets to own the resources discovered by private corporations in space? Well, as a result of the 2015 Space Act that passed the Senate by Unanimous Consent with virtually no floor debate, private corporations are able to own all of these resources. In other words, the taxpayers of this country will get a zero percent return on the investment they made in these private enterprises.
M. President: Is that what we want space exploration to become? Do we really think that it is acceptable for NASA to hand out billions of dollars to some of the wealthiest billionaires in America today to make them even richer?
Or do we want to use space exploration to benefit ordinary Americans and improve lives here on planet earth?
It's time that we had a serious debate on the future of NASA instead of just handing out $10 billion to Jeff Bezos.
You know, M. President, a few days ago, Amazon workers in Staten Island voted to form the first union in Amazon's history. Instead of providing Jeff Bezos billions of dollars in taxpayer assistance to fuel his space hobby, maybe, just maybe the Senate should be congratulating the workers at Amazon and pass legislation to make it easier, not harder, for workers to form unions.
Let me be very clear. I believe that space exploration is very exciting. It has the potential to substantially benefit all of humanity. But, if we continue down the path of privatizing space exploration, it also has the potential to make the obscenely rich even richer and more powerful than anyone can possibly imagine today. In my view, we cannot allow that to happen.
I yield the floor.
M. President, I worry very much that what we are seeing now is not a space race between the United States and other countries as to which nation will return to the moon and perhaps get to Mars, but a space race between Mr. Musk and Mr. Bezos, the two wealthiest people in America, as to who will gain control over NASA and future space explorations. In other words, if we are able to accomplish the extraordinary goal of sending a person to Mars I want the flag that will be flying on that planet to be the flag of the United States, not the flag of Space X or Blue Origin.
And, M. President, let's be clear. The $10 billion in this bill for Jeff Bezos and his space company Blue Origin is just the tip of the iceberg.
The reality is that the space economy - which today mostly consists of private companies using NASA facilities free of charge to launch satellites into orbit - is already very profitable and could become even more so in the future.
According to the most recent data, private corporations make over $94 billion in profits a year from goods or services that are used in space - profits that could not have been achieved without the assistance of NASA - a government agency funded by the taxpayers of America.
And while today we are talking about the profitability of satellites, sometime in the future - certainly not tomorrow or next month or next year but perhaps in our lifetime - the real money may come to those who figure out how to mine lucrative minerals on asteroids.
In 2015, the famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson predicted that, and I quote, "The first trillionaire there will ever be is the person who exploits the natural resources on asteroids " There's this vast universe of limitless energy and limitless resources. I look at wars fought over access to resources. That could be a thing of the past, once space becomes our backyard."
M. President, who gets to own the resources discovered by private corporations in space? Well, as a result of the 2015 Space Act that passed the Senate by Unanimous Consent with virtually no floor debate, private corporations are able to own all of these resources. In other words, the taxpayers of this country will get a zero percent return on the investment they made in these private enterprises.
M. President: Is that what we want space exploration to become? Do we really think that it is acceptable for NASA to hand out billions of dollars to some of the wealthiest billionaires in America today to make them even richer?
Or do we want to use space exploration to benefit ordinary Americans and improve lives here on planet earth?
It's time that we had a serious debate on the future of NASA instead of just handing out $10 billion to Jeff Bezos.
You know, M. President, a few days ago, Amazon workers in Staten Island voted to form the first union in Amazon's history. Instead of providing Jeff Bezos billions of dollars in taxpayer assistance to fuel his space hobby, maybe, just maybe the Senate should be congratulating the workers at Amazon and pass legislation to make it easier, not harder, for workers to form unions.
Let me be very clear. I believe that space exploration is very exciting. It has the potential to substantially benefit all of humanity. But, if we continue down the path of privatizing space exploration, it also has the potential to make the obscenely rich even richer and more powerful than anyone can possibly imagine today. In my view, we cannot allow that to happen.
I yield the floor.
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