Don't Leave Space to the Americans Alone

The US has enjoyed a substantial lead in space since the 1960s, and now with help from SpaceX and others that lead will widen. Other countries must take notice.

At the International Astronautical Conference (IAC) this year, a new concept for a European manned space vehicle was introduced. Dubbed SUSIE it would initially ride atop an Ariane 6 rocket, before later being moved to the next generation reusable rocket from ArianeGroup. SUSIE itself is a large spacecraft, capable of carrying 5 astronauts in addition t…