Its ill-advised wars of the early 21st Century began the rapid decline of the diplomatic and military hegemony of the United States of America around the world, and its economic collapse in the ‘20’s hastened its exit from the world stage just as the Chinese Republic was advancing.  The lead in space exploration shifted from the U.S. and its allies in Europe and Japan, to China and the new “launch powers” in South America and Africa.  For a time, space exploration seemed to be stuck in a cycle of déjà vu as these countries repeated the launch-orbit-moon path blazed by the U.S. and the U.S.S.R during the Cold War of the 20th Century.  The resurgence of the U.S. economy in the 2030’s gave then-President Rice the wherewithal to declare a new Space Race, this time to not only explore the solar system with manned flights and boost national morale, but also to exploit the natural resources of those other worlds to repay that investment.  A fourth but no less important goal was countering the Chinese militarization of space and providing orbital defense.  Along with the European Union and the remaining NATO powers, the U.S. chartered the Space Exploration and Defense Administration (SEDA) as a multi-national treaty organization with the authority to conduct all manned space exploration activities for the signatory nations (though each retained smaller research-based agencies, such as the National Space Science Research Agency (SSRA) – the reorganized NASA).