Space Commercial Launch Law and Policy of the United States: A Critique from the Mercantilist Perspective

Since the 1980s, the laws and policies of the United States on space commercial launch have been heavily mercantilist. Political reasons behind these laws and policies are the political tradition of business lobbying and the needs of maintaining political hegemony; economic considerations are chasing profits of domestic capital and the needs of maintaining economic hegemony; cultural reasons are the mission of pursuing wealth under the combination of Protestantism's conception of the calling and the spirit of capitalism, as well as the tradition of attaching importance to trade, the spirit of Roman law and the pioneering national character derived from the classical civilization. In the commercial space competition with the United States, China should find a way to develop commercial space launch industry of our own. Internally, China should issue a space launch industry plan, give play to the advantages of state-owned enterprises and private enterprises. Externally, China should promote the market of developing countries by relying on "the Belt and Road" Spatial Information Corridor as well as strengthen space science and technology exchanges and cooperation with other space-faring nations or groups.