Pence backing space commerce
WASHINGTON — The National Space Council, headed by Vice President Mike Pence, on Wednesday announced a recommendation to consolidate space commerce responsibilities under the Commerce Department, while creating a sort of space czar — an undersecretary of space commerce to oversee “all commercial space regulatory functions.”
In a speech at the Kennedy Space Center, Pence also announced a plan to streamline licensing requirements for rockets that launch and then return, which the industry has been pushing for.
The Commerce Department would also work to cut back on regulations for remote sensing and the way spacecraft approach and interact with each other in space. The recommendations, which would need to be approved by the president, come as companies such as Planet are putting up constellations of satellites to beam back images of the Earth. And others, such as Space Systems Loral and Orbital ATK, are working to perform maintenance in space, which could extend the life of satellites on orbit.
The moves are designed to streamline regulations and help boost the commercial space industry as it begins to show momentum.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said during the meeting that American industry was competing “against 70 foreign governments, so they need all the support we can give them.” To do that, he said there would be a “new, one-stop shop for space commerce.”
“Asteroid mining, space