There are two global space races happening today. One is about long-term sustainable exploration with flags and footprints, and the other is about who has the strongest space industrial base. For now, the US commercial space industry remains firmly in the lead. Two American companies recently landed on the Moon, proving once again that the commercial space industry can accomplish feats once left only to governments.
But, as industry develops and deploys its most innovative capabilities—from commercial space stations to asteroid mining missions—there is no US government entity clearly empowered to approve such commercial activities, threatening the future of US leadership in space.
How we got here: For more than a decade, industry and policymakers have proposed and debated legislation to endow various federal agencies with the authority to authorize novel space activities. We have watched numerous proposals, frameworks, bills, and ideas come and go with little progress made towards resolving this issue.
Under Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty, the US government is obligated to authorize and supervise space activities conducted by non-governmental entities. Currently, the US government fulfills its international regulatory obligations at three federal offices:
- Space launch and reentry licensing administered by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST)
- Commercial remote sensing licensing administered by the Office of Space Commerce (OSC),
- Spectrum licensing through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Space activities outside of those regimes must undertake a complex and burdensome ad-hoc interagency review process that can take years. Formalizing this process and assigning a single agency the responsibility to administer a mission authorization framework has been a long-standing policy discussion that needs to be addressed.
Next steps: The good news is that we already have the answer. The first Trump administration’s 2020 National Space Policy designated the Department of Commerce as the right agency to authorize novel space activities.
In his second term, the president should take the next step and direct the Department of Commerce, through OSC, to implement a minimally burdensome, predictable, stable, and transparent process to allow non-government entities to seek authorization of activities in space not licensed or overseen by other federal agencies.
Furthermore, the President should empower OSC to serve as the lead agency for all interagency deliberations. All of this could be accomplished through utilizing OSC’s existing statutory authorities to promote the commercial space industry.
A call to action: Certain fundamental principles are necessary for an effective regime.
- It must operate under the presumption of approval, meaning that applications should be authorized unless explicit violations of US law, national security, or international obligations are identified and communicated.
- It must include firm deadlines for reviewing applications and provide opportunities to quickly remedy any concerns raised.
- It must be minimally burdensome for applicants with clear, consistent, and predictable requirements, including limited data collection requirements.
- It should utilize a simple application portal to allow for internal and external tracking of electronic applications.
- OSC must be empowered to lead interagency deliberations and resolve any concerns.
- OSC should be elevated from its current location within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to an organization reporting directly to the Office of the Secretary of Commerce.
- OSC should also receive direct hiring authorities to allow it to quickly hire appropriate levels of employees to implement the agency’s many responsibilities.
But what about Congress? While the executive branch can execute many of these recommended actions without legislation, Congress should codify these authorities and principles to ensure continuity across future administrations. Furthermore, Congress must support OSC by continuing to provide adequate resources, which they have done for the last several years.
Bottom line: Inaction threatens the growth and development of the US industry at a time when China is dedicating the full strength of its government to advancing its space program. Providing this clarity to the investment community will bring the full might of the US economy and private capital to relieve the taxpayer from footing the entire bill to meet our national objectives in space.
Our Chinese space competitors only have two things standing in the way of their success in space—math and physics. We need to level the playing field to ensure our commercial space leaders and entrepreneurs are only facing the same two obstacles to winning the next space race.
Dave Cavossa is the president of the Commercial Space Federation.
