President-elect Donald Trump proposed to reintroduce during his presidential campaign a National Space Council that would manage the U.S. space policy and would likely be led by Vice President Mike Pence under the president’s executive office, Space.com reported Thursday.Leonard David writes Pence said during a pre-election speech in Florida that the proposed NSC will focus on public-private partnerships and human space exploration.
Apollo astronaut Harrison “Jack” Schmitt told Space.com that the proposed council “might add clear White House support for the program, but it also probably would add another layer of bureaucracy on top of the [Office of Management and Budget].”
James Vedda, a senior policy analyst at The Aerospace Corp.‘s center for space policy and strategy, said in a paper that if managed properly, an NSC could help address issues across the commercial, national security and commercial space sectors, such as acquisition reform and export control, space traffic and debris management, and condition of the space industrial base, David reports.
The proposed council “can be a boon if it works well — aligning policy and strategy across the civil, commercial and national security space sectors to serve national interests — or a wasteful exercise if it doesn’t,” Vedda added.
