THE SYSTEM IS ESSENTIAL BUT ALSO VULNERABLE. WE NEED A BACKUP.
Time was when nobody knew, or even cared, exactly what time it was. The movement of the sun, phases of the moon and changing seasons were sufficient indicators. But since the Industrial Revolution, we’ve become increasingly dependent on knowing the time, and with increasing accuracy. Not only does the time tell us when to sleep, wake, eat, work and play; it tells automated systems when to execute financial transactions, bounce data between cellular towers and throttle power on the electrical grid.
Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC, the global reference for timekeeping, is beamed down to us from extremely precise atomic clocks aboard Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. The time it takes for GPS signals to reach receivers is also used to calculate location for air, land and sea navigation.
THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND
BUDGET
THE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR NATIONAL
SECURITY AFFAIRS
SPACE ADMINISTRATION
TECHNOLOGY POLICY
SUBJECT: The National Space Policy
Section 1. References. This directive supersedes Presidential Policy Directive – 4 (June 29, 2010) and references, promotes, and reemphasizes the following policy directives and memoranda:
a) Presidential Policy Directive 26 – National Space Transportation Policy (November 21, 2013)
b) Executive Order 13803 – Reviving the National Space Council (June 30, 2017)
c) Space Policy Directive 1 – Reinvigorating America’s Human Space Exploration Program (December 11, 2017)
d) The National Space Strategy (March 23, 2018)
e) Space Policy Directive 2 – Streamlining Regulations on Commercial Use of Space (May 24, 2018)
f) Space Policy Directive 3 – National Space Traffic Management Policy (June 18, 2018)