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The Trump Administration is Moving To Privatize the International Space Station: Report (techcrunch.com)
The Trump administration is planning to privatize the international space station instead of simply decommissioning the orbiting international experiment in 2024, The Washington Post reports. From a report: According to a document obtained by the Post, the current administration is mulling handing the International Space Station off to private industry instead of de-orbiting it as NASA "will expand international and commercial partnerships over the next seven years in order to ensure continued human access to and presence in low Earth orbit." The Post also reported that the administration was looking to request $150 million in fiscal year 2019 "to enable the development and maturation of commercial entities and capabilities which will ensure that commercial successors to the ISS -- potentially including elements of the ISS -- are operational when they are needed." The U.S. government has already spent roughly $100 billion to build and operate the space station as part of an international coalition that also includes the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the Russian Space Agency.
So what if the US is the wealthiest country on the planet? What does that have to do with funding the ISS? Greater ability to fund doesn't equate responsibility to fund. What does the US owe to ESA, RSA, and JSA? Please explain this to me. I don't understand why you and so many others conflate ability with responsibility as if ESA, RSA, and JSA couldn't afford ISS upkeep.
The US still leads in research in a number of fields. We aren't talking about a fighter jet. We are talking about ISS. If your only defense for ISS is whataboutism perhaps the ISS isn't important and other countries should decide if it is important for them.