It's an election year
The editorial struck me as transparently partisan and political; another attempt to carve off a piece of an interest group. This being an election year, knowing who the messenger is is more important than usual, because about all we'll see this year is point of view with an axe to grind. Not facts nor objective analysis. "Kill the messenger" is another way of saying "have the common sense to recognize a political hit piece".
I don't have a channel to Kerry to know what he really thinks about space. I just know I'm not an iota wiser for having read that political diatribe.