...With so many high level admins, and almost no specialists, I don't have particularly high expectations of this council though.
The primary advocate for new space companies, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, was not invited to the event on Friday. SpaceX's Elon Musk and Blue Origin's Jeff Bezos were asked to attend, but neither could make the event on short notice. One official involved in the new space community told Ars, "If you were not with Alabama or SLS, you weren't getting into the event today. They didn't want any commercial space there." Alabama is the home state of the Marshall Space Flight Center, which manages development of the SLS rocket.
Hate to say it but Buzz did not look good at all.
Marcia Smith @SpcPlcyOnlineMarcia Smith Retweeted Marcia SmithWell, officially, the White House announced its 'Intent" to nominate Scott, but close enough.QuoteMarcia Smith @SpcPlcyOnlineAt last its official! White House has nominated Scott Pace to be Executive Secretary of the National Space Council.
Marcia Smith @SpcPlcyOnlineAt last its official! White House has nominated Scott Pace to be Executive Secretary of the National Space Council.
QuoteThe primary advocate for new space companies, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, was not invited to the event on Friday. SpaceX's Elon Musk and Blue Origin's Jeff Bezos were asked to attend, but neither could make the event on short notice. One official involved in the new space community told Ars, "If you were not with Alabama or SLS, you weren't getting into the event today. They didn't want any commercial space there." Alabama is the home state of the Marshall Space Flight Center, which manages development of the SLS rocket.In the same article, however, Eric Berger goes on to say that the thing to watch now is who get appointed to the Council's Users' Advisory Group, the function of which is "to ensure that the interests of industries and other non-Federal entities involved in space activities, including in particular commercial entities, are adequately represented in the Council."
... Sandra Magnus and Chris Shank said they expected the Trump administration to use the newly-reestablished National Space Council to draft such a policy, but that it would not necessarily be a priority for it. ... Shank suggested that the White House might take incremental measures leading up to a policy. “There’s a speed of government and a speed of business,” he said. “I think the speed of business for a number of folks within the administration is to make little shifts along the way as opposed to waiting.” ... “I think there’s a lot of potential here,” (Magnus) said. “What we could use as a nation is an integrated strategy for how we want to approach space.”
Marcia Smith @SpcPlcyOnline 9h9 hours agoWH announcement re Scott Pace (snip from WH press release rec'd 7:09 pm ET)
Wayne Hale @waynehale 11h11 hours agoReplying to @SpcPlcyOnlineScott will do well as Executive Director of the Space Council
The National Space Council is the wrong forum for SLS. The Council is full of people working for military and intelligence agencies. It is therefore likely to be a Falcon 9 and Atlas V love in.
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 07/01/2017 06:19 amThe White HouseOffice of the Press SecretaryFor Immediate ReleaseJune 30, 2017Presidential Executive Order on Reviving the National Space Council...Sec. 2. Revival and Composition of the National Space Council. (a) The Council is hereby revived and shall resume operations.(b) The Council shall be composed of the following members:(i) The Vice President, who shall be Chair of the Council;(ii) The Secretary of State;1. The Secretary of State? Besides having no time to attend because of, you know, real problems around the world that need his attention, this makes me think that the NSC may be envisioned to do things that will cause great attention around the world.Quote(iii) The Secretary of Defense;2. OK, this officially means that the NSC is not just focused on the peaceful use of space, which is NASA's bailiwick.Quote(iv) The Secretary of Commerce;(v) The Secretary of Transportation;(vi) The Secretary of Homeland Security;3. Seriously, are they planning on setting up TSA at spaceports? Will my Global Entry card be good enough for re-entry to the U.S., or will I need my passport?Quote(vii) The Director of National Intelligence;4. No clue. Yes, I could have said something like "Are they expecting to find intelligent life in space?", but I think it's pretty obvious this person will be too busy to stop by this little confab to chat about things he's not worried about. Maybe they'll send someone to make sure no one is going to propose something that will bump into any of their "assets" in space?Quote(viii) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget;5. OMB Directors suck the life out of any rooms they are in. It's their job to say "NO!!!!". Which is a pretty clear signal that no proposal is ever going to see the light of day from this group of "out of the box" thinkers.Quote(ix) The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs;(x) The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;Oh good, NASA does get a seat at the far end of the table. And here I was worried...I'll skip down to one other important point.Quote(c) The Council shall meet at least annually. AndQuoteSec. 8. Report. Within 1 year of the date of this order, and annually thereafter, the Council shall submit a report to the President setting forth its assessment of, and recommendations for, the space policy and strategy of the United States Government.6. OK, nothing says they can't meet more often than once a year, but if you look at the list of members how often do you think you'd be able to get them together? And sure, they could send their Asst. what-evers, but a cohesive planning group needs consistent participation so that action items are followed up quickly.7. And since NASA represents less than 1/10 of the membership of the NSC, I'm starting to think we should NOT expect too much NASA-oriented results from the NSC. And my original expectations were that NASA would have a much bigger level of participation, so I'm kind of disappointed.Any other interpretations?
The White HouseOffice of the Press SecretaryFor Immediate ReleaseJune 30, 2017Presidential Executive Order on Reviving the National Space Council...Sec. 2. Revival and Composition of the National Space Council. (a) The Council is hereby revived and shall resume operations.(b) The Council shall be composed of the following members:(i) The Vice President, who shall be Chair of the Council;(ii) The Secretary of State;
(iii) The Secretary of Defense;
(iv) The Secretary of Commerce;(v) The Secretary of Transportation;(vi) The Secretary of Homeland Security;
(vii) The Director of National Intelligence;
(viii) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget;
(ix) The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs;(x) The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
(c) The Council shall meet at least annually.
Sec. 8. Report. Within 1 year of the date of this order, and annually thereafter, the Council shall submit a report to the President setting forth its assessment of, and recommendations for, the space policy and strategy of the United States Government.
Using that analogy, they already have their own table in a completely separate high-security building. I'm not sure why they would see this council as some sort of improvement. And if there are any discussions about national security, NASA will likely be asked to leave the room anyways...
Who are the private sector members of America's new Space Council likely to be? Will Musk or Bezos or Tory Bruno be on there? Will some of the seats be up for rotation?
March 14, 2017 - 06:00 PM EDTSpace is bigger than NASABY SCOTT PACE, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR
Quote from: sanman on 07/02/2017 09:35 amWho are the private sector members of America's new Space Council likely to be? Will Musk or Bezos or Tory Bruno be on there? Will some of the seats be up for rotation?The council is US gov't only. Industry is represented by the Department of Commerce and Transportation and those who use their products.
Here's a piece written by Scott Pace in March that may well give some indications of the direction the NSC will take:QuoteMarch 14, 2017 - 06:00 PM EDTSpace is bigger than NASABY SCOTT PACE, OPINION CONTRIBUTORhttp://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/transportation/323969-space-is-bigger-than-just-nasa
If we want to enhance stability by broadening international support for productive and stable norms of behavior in space, then we need to establish and lead space initiatives in which other nations can participate.If we want to shape the values and norms of the new frontier, then we must ourselves be on that frontier. New societies are shaped by those who are there, not by those who stay home.
Over the past decade, space policy decision-making has been fragmented and left to lower-level staff rather than accountable leadership. This has resulted in declining budgets and slower innovation. NASA's $19.3 billion budget in 2016 was 0.5 percent of federal government spending. If NASA had the same spending power as in 1992, around the end of the Cold War, its budget would be over $24 billion today.We spend 20 percent less on NASA than we did 25 years ago, while the importance of space is greater than ever.We are lagging behind China in cutting-edge hypersonic research while innovative U.S. commercial remote-sensing companies are tangled in regulatory limbo. U.S. economic and security interests are in peril unless there is a new burst of innovation and regulatory relief in our aerospace industries.
Meet Scott Pace, the National Space Council's new executive secretary
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2017/20170714-scott-pace-overview.html