"The three new rules ... recalibrate our approach to export controls," a senior Commerce Department official said. "These changes will offer relief to US companies and they'll increase innovation without compromising the critical technologies that keep our nation safe."
The Biden administration's plan came, in part, in response to a different congressional proposal about how to divvy up heavenly authorities, sources told Breaking Defense.
As threats rapidly evolve, digital engineering, manufacturing capacity and robust supply chains are critical to meeting challenges.
The ongoing White House-level review of what is often called "mission authorization and supervision" responsibilities has not been simple, according to several government officials involved, with the key agencies with current legal say over space regulations jockeying for a piece of the regulatory pie.
There are a host of open questions bedeviling national and international policy- and law-makers as they struggle to get a better grip on both the explosion of commercial players with innovative ideas for space utilization and the growing military interest in space as a tool of, and venue for, war.
The National Space Council recently heard suggestions ranging from establishing a licensing "clearinghouse" to temporarily doing away with licensing altogether.
"There must be a predictable, transparent and common sense regulatory framework that protects investment and lower barriers to entry for private capital," said Axiom Space's Mary Lynne Dittmar.
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
Kayhan Space is providing its baseline collision avoidance service, Pathfinder Essentials, for free "to keep space safe," said company co-founder Araz Feyzi.
The new rules framework is due to Vice President Kamala Harris by March 7, said National Space Council Director of Commercial Policy Diane Howard.
The report, based on a workshop involving industry, experts and Pentagon officials, is in part designed to promote what participants consider to be a "North Star" vision for America as leading human expansion into space beyond Earth.
The White House announcement comes after the FCC indicated it was wading into the murky regulatory waters of space-space services like satellite repair and refueling.
Discover how unmanned systems and emerging technologies are shaping the future of U.S. naval power in Breaking Defense’s new eBook.
The Japanese-founded startup also will pitch its debris removal services to SPACEWerx Orbit Prime contest, says Astroscale US President Ron Lopez.
The B-SURE bio-bugs program is a first baby step in using biology to create a space-based supply chain, reducing reliance on materials launched from Earth.
One of the first projects the new DeSel lab will work on is testing structures for a futuristic capability that could be enabled by on-orbit assembly and manufacturing: space-based solar power.