OSC is prudent to propose standing up a mission authorization regime, as it’s clear that the commercial space industry’s expanding mission set is taxing the existing regulatory regime for space. There needs to be a clear, transparent, and light-touch process for missions not covered by existing regulatory processes to ensure the commercial space industry has the regulatory certainty it needs to continue growing. China’s space sector is gaining capabilities rapidly and, if our domestic industry has any hope of maintaining leadership, the regulatory system for commercial space must carefully balance the need for competitiveness with the need to protect national objectives.
The space community has had near-consensus on what an optimal mission authorization regime should look like for years now via the proposal put forward by the National Space Council’s User Advisory Group (UAG), but governmental proposals to date have not passed muster. Thankfully, the draft proposal put forward by OSC in response to Executive Order 14335 is a strong step forward that largely comports with the near-consensus recommendations. The regime set forth needs a few small tweaks, such as:
1. Clarifying timelines
2. Avoiding requirements specific to given mission types
3. Minding the push/pull commercial space regulatory regimes have with the national
security community
4. Laying out the process for ongoing supervision, preferably on a self-certification basis
Beyond specific tweaks to the proposal, OSC will also have to be cautious about implementation processes and will require additional funding and staffing to carry out this regime should it move forward. However, on the whole, this is a strong proposal that should move forward toward implementation.
