Terry Jaggers

Date of Award

January 2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Aerospace Sciences

First Advisor

Michael Dodge

Abstract

The nation first-to-develop infrastructures in the future Earth-Moon Economic Zone will set the standards that shape and govern use by others, increasing both economic and national power. Current U.S. economic and national power is built upon a legacy of infrastructure leadership on Earth and in Earth orbit. However, China has a goal to supplant U.S. infrastructure leadership on Earth and establish leadership before the U.S. in the Earth-Moon Economic Zone by 2049. While the U.S. acknowledges China’s terrestrial infrastructure goals as an economic challenge, China’s space infrastructure goals appear to be met as either a military challenge in Earth orbit, or a prestige challenge to land a human on the Moon. Despite China incorporating infrastructure goals into their 2017 constitution, there has been no scholarly review of U.S. policy to develop infrastructures in this zone before 2049. The purpose of this study is to explore the sufficiency of U.S. policy to develop Earth-Moon Economic Zone infrastructures by 2049. The target audience is the U.S. National Security, National Space, and National Economic Councils, U.S. Congress, U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S. Industry, and think tanks. This study was limited to the Earth-Moon Economic Zone from Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon, and both Trump and Biden U.S. national security, national space and select NASA budget documents since 2017. A qualitative analysis was used to review U.S. policy with an initial researcher-led document analysis followed by expert interviews for corroboration and supplemental information such as new policy. If any changes or new policies were identified, then U.S. policy reviewed was deemed not sufficient. The interview analysis corroborated five recommended changes and identified three new policies, so current U.S. policy was deemed not sufficient. While recommendations were not analyzed, the Researcher opines four as critical; adding a more unified infrastructure competition strategy across all infrastructure domains, including sustained operational dates for specific infrastructures in both policy and budgets, creating a national economic strategy for U.S. Earth-Moon Zone investment, and development of a whole-of-nation industrialization plan for Earth-Moon Zone infrastructure development.

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