The vast majority of space-related news coverage in 2003 has been riveted on the woes at NASA following the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia.  This mass media portrait of space activity at a standstill couldnt be more wrong -- once again proving Garrison Keillors theorem that if you watch television news you know less about the world than if you sat at home and drank gin from a bottle."

In fact, 2003 has been a hectic, landmark year in space.  The successful Dec. 17 launch of an Atlas III rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was the 51st space mission launched this year.  In launching these 51 missions (thats a blistering pace of one space mission per week every week of the year) the worlds space agencies and companies have further opened the final frontier in many important respects.

At this writing (Dec. 18, 2003), in addition to the 51 space missions already flown several more missions are on launch pads and poised to fly before 2004 rolls around.   These include two commercial launches set to launch from the Baikonur launch complex in Kazakhstan and a satellite launch from China.

The 51 space missions flown thus far in 2003 have launched 64 satellites and deep space probes, and five missions have gone to the International Space Station.  A staggering total of 69 spacecraft were launched in 2003, including three deep space probes now in route to Mars, two Japanese military satellites lost and, of course, the tragic loss of Columbia.

Despite what superficially seems like a stand down at NASA, science and research accounted for the largest amount of space activity in 2003, with 28 satellites or payloads dedicated to science, research or exploration. Military space operations ranked second with 18 satellites launched and the rebounding commercial space market was hot on the heels of the military, with 16 commercial satellites launched.  Seven satellites were placed in orbit for satellite navigation systems, including both the American GPS and Russian GLONASS; these systems are operated by the military but have much broader civil and commercial use, providing both military and commercial benefits.

The 16 new commercial satellites launched in 2003 will bring new or improved telecommunications, broadcast television, satellite television and other everyday space-based services to millions of people on virtually every part of the globe.

The United States, Russia, China and Japan all flew military missions and payloads into space -- ranging from defense research experiments to military communications satellites to satellite navigation systems and surveillance satellites.  2003 marked Japans entry into full-scale military space operations. The liberation of Iraq entered the history books as the first space war, with coalition forces depending upon space systems for navigation, positioning, communications, targeting, surveillance, reconnaissance and more; paradoxically, 80 percent of the satellite bandwidth into Iraq was provided by commercial satellite companies.

Of great historical significance, 2003 was the year the four-decades-old duopoly held by the U.S. and Russia was finally broken when China became the third nation capable of launching human beings into space.

And while the shape of NASAs human space flight program is changing post- Columbia, the governments exclusive control of space travel is being challenged.  Some two-dozen commercial companies are competing to win the X-Prize, which demands they successfully launch people into suborbital flight twice within two weeks.  Important test flights took place in 2003 -- including the rocket-powered, Mach 1.2 flight to the edge of space by Burt Rutans Space Ship 1 on Dec. 17 -- the 100th Anniversary of the Wright Brothers first powered flight.  It is widely expected that the X-Prize will be claimed in 2004.

Taken collectively, the space enterprise is becoming a juggernaut. Weekly missions. Multiple nations. Commercial, civil, scientific and military purposes.  Notwithstanding the temporary stand-down in U.S. human space flight activities, the juggernaut will move inexorably forward -- onward, upward, outward into limitless space.

It is precisely because humanitys evolution starward cannot be stopped that it is so important that the United States get over Columbia and get on with the human exploration and development of space.  Our nation has reaped huge benefits from our four decades of leadership in space, but our continued leadership is not assured.  It depends upon our willingness to put our losses in perspective and to continue to take risks that propel us forward.

In so many ways, 2003 has been a seminal year in the exploration and development of space.  If we can emerge from the shadow of Columbia with a strong vision and renewed commitment to the human exploration and development of space, 2003 could well be remembered as the year that launched the space millennium.