State Rep. Brian Hodgers
Jan. 7, 2026, 5:03 a.m. ET
NASA’s announcement of its 2025 astronaut class underscores America’s renewed commitment to space leadership. These individuals will train for missions to the Moon and Mars as part of the Artemis program, a cornerstone of U.S. efforts to maintain its edge in an increasingly competitive space race with China.
Their selection reflects the extraordinary scientific and technological capabilities concentrated at NASA, particularly in Florida, and serves as a powerful reminder of what’s possible when national ambition meets innovation. As global rivals accelerate their own lunar plans, this new class represents not just exploration, but strategic resolve.
As is the case with every NASA announcement, however, it is critical to remember how the agency fits into the country’s grand strategy and that it has long been an essential thread in our national security tapestry. Despite decades of breakthroughs and impressive headlines, NASA still faces challenges in dealing with the ongoing threat of Chinese hacking. I know that we all agree for the sake of national security and Florida security, that this must be shut down.
To be clear, the Trump administration has already taken several steps that signal it understands the connection between NASA and national security. The fallout of proposed budget cuts to the agency drove headlines. Still, it was far from the most significant move ― that came in early September, when the administration quietly “blocked Chinese citizens with U.S. visas from working on agency programs.”
Though there have always been restrictions on Chinese nationals and employment at NASA, this was a major escalation at a time when both Beijing and Washington have their sights on the lunar surface once more. Such a ban makes clear sense in this context, as many Republican leaders have noted. However, we may need to make even tougher changes.
That’s because NASA announced in 2022 – under the stewardship of then-President Biden ― that it would use RISC-V as its “go-to ecosystem” for “future space missions”, including on planetary and surface missions. Yes, even the planned Mars mission that is the source of so much attention is implicated.
This isn’t just theoretical; it’s happening right in front of us. One troubling example is the fact that one of NASA’s main suppliers is incorporating a Chinese CPU that utilizes RISC-V.
RISC-V is an open-source chip design architecture that directly competes with the “closed” systems that have historically dominated public sector and security-focused tech design and planning. RISC-V and the nonprofit that organizes it are politically “neutral” but explicitly take the side of the Chinese government in trade disputes, going so far as to move its headquarters out of the United States to Switzerland.
China itself understands the moment and is the leading player in the proliferation of RISC-V. Its robust start-up ecosystem has over $1 billion in funding for RISC-V designs, with tens of millions coming from Chinese state agencies and research centers. It has filed over 2,500 patents on RISC-V. It has partnered with Nvidia on RISC-V proliferation. It views the technology as a critical tool in its designs to modernize the People’s Liberation Army.
American analysts, meanwhile, note the many security loopholes that RISC-V presents. And military analysts and thinkers note that open source technology is far easier to hack ― to say nothing of state-run malfeasance.
The general public is excused for not immediately understanding the trouble, but our elected leaders have no such excuse. In fact, they don’t get to feign ignorance. Then Senator, now Secretary of State Marco Rubio in 2023 asked the Biden administration in a bipartisan letter about its “plan[s] to prevent the PRC from achieving dominance in RISC-V technology and leveraging that dominance at the expense of U.S. national security.”
It’s a good question, though one that still demands an answer. If the Secretary or President Trump want to take matters into their own hands, they could consider this: we are no longer allowing the U.S. government nor projects conducted on its behalf to use RISC-V technology now or in the future.
That would be a good place to start, even if more needs to be done. Americans of all backgrounds would sleep easier knowing that our most advanced scientific research ― many, many civilian technologies are rooted in NASA design ― are for American eyes only.
State Rep. Brian Hodgers represents District 32.
