Commercial Space Interests Seen Cautiously Watching Orbital Debris Proceeding
The commercial space industry is closely watching the FCC-proposed update of rules governing orbital debris (see 1811020003) to ensure the agency "threads the needle" between avoiding undue burdens on industry and addressing a growing concern, said Vector-Launch Washington operations Director…
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Courtney Stadd on a Space Foundation panel Wednesday. He said nations need to be more aggressive about debris. Panelists agreed commercial space has strong momentum, though Made in Space CEO Andrew Rush called the industry “simultaneously strong but really fragile." Allen Herbert, vice president-business development and strategy at commercial space station company NanoRacks, said emerging new players in space such as the United Arab Emirates, Brazil and Africa could help drive more commercial opportunity. "The jury is out" on what kind of collateral effects the federal shutdown had on commercial space, said Stadd. He said the FAA's draft regulatory overhaul of launches will be pushed further out. Rush said the shutdown "pinched" a hiring push at his space manufacturing company, though it's now tentatively resuming. Inmarsat Senior Vice President-Government Strategy and Policy Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch said shutdowns mean an even slower regulatory process, leaving her company to look to other nations for launches. Space Foundation CEO Tom Zelibor said the industry faces challenges of workforce and educational focus and to explain developments and measure them. Stadd said miniaturization of satellites is leading to an "unbelievable change in the economics" of deploying assets and should lead to “unbelievable” new applications. Rush said just as the launch industry has moved from expendable to reusable rockets, the satellite industry is next with reusability via reconfigurable and repairable satellites.