Kevin O’Connell, director of the Office of Space Commerce, said his priorities for the space-based regulatory body include modifying space policy regulations and safeguarding national security by encouraging industry participation in the endeavor, SpaceNews reported Thursday.
“Our initial strategy for the Office of Space Commerce involves four basic elements: advocacy, moving regulatory barriers, industry engagement and improving our understanding [of the space industry’s benefits],” O’Connell said Monday during a speech at a space conference at Arizona State University.
O’Connell said the office will focus on instituting international and domestic reforms so that American companies can compete effectively in a free global market.
He also said that, as per Space Policy Directive-2, the office will likely turn into a “one-stop shop” for commercial space regulatory efforts.
The Commerce Department this May proposed to merge its Office of Space Commerce with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration‘s commercial remote sensing regulatory affairs office to streamline both offices’ duties. The new entity would become known as the Space Policy Advancing Commercial Enterprise Administration and report to the Secretary of Commerce.
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