National Space Council meeting emphasizes international cooperation

The White House in Washington discussed the importance of international cooperation at a Dec. 20 meeting of the National Space Council but proposed few new measures in this regard.

The meeting, the third the committee has held during the Biden administration and the first since September 2022, was intended to highlight what the White House described in a fact sheet as efforts to expand and deepen international cooperation in a range of areas. Extraordinary progress for the space partnership.

Vice President Kamala Harris said in her opening remarks that these partnerships are critical to U.S. leadership in space. One of the main ways we will continue to expand this leadership position in the coming years is by strengthening our international partnerships.

Her speech and the subsequent Council meeting focused on ongoing efforts in international space cooperation. The closest thing to a new development is the confirmation that astronauts from other countries will participate in future NASA Artemis moon missions.

Today, in recognition of the important role our allies and partners play in the Artemis program, I am proud to announce our intention to work with American astronauts to land an international astronaut by the end of this year Moon surface. Ten years, she said.

However, neither Harris nor others at the meeting provided further details. NASA and international partners have long expected astronauts from other space agencies to participate in the Artemis moon landing program at some point, with the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in particular hoping to bring their space missions to the moon. Send a man to the moon. No astronauts from any agency, including NASA, are assigned to fly the Artemis 2 mission, which will orbit the moon as early as late 2024.

Instead, the meeting focused on ongoing international cooperation initiatives such as the Artemis Accords and the U.S.-led effort to ban destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons testing. The meeting also highlighted the previously announced partnership between NASA and the Italian space agency ASI to fly NASA’s Earth science instrument, the Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA), on an Italian satellite. USAID will work with NASA to distribute MAIA data to governments and organizations in Africa and South America.

Officials said at the meeting they would continue those efforts. Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted significant progress on the anti-satellite testing ban, with 36 countries joining the U.S. since Harris announced the moratorium in April 2022. Next year, we will continue our diplomatic efforts to establish this as an international norm. explain.

During the meeting, Vice President National Security Adviser Phil Gordon directed Security Council members to carry out a number of tasks related to international cooperation, including continuing to advance the ban on anti-satellite testing, implementing the Artemis Accords in practice, and making better use of The Artemis Accords plan. A space to support international capacity building. Gordon presided over the meeting in the absence of Harris, who left immediately after his opening remarks.

Harris and others pointed out that all 33 countries that signed the Artemis Accords attended the council meeting. However, the only non-American to speak was Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hanson, who was assigned to Artemis 2 earlier this year.

When introducing Harris, he said of the Artemis program that NASA could have chosen to do this mission alone, but they have intentionally chosen to include Canada and a growing number of international partners. Not only is it sincerely appreciated, but it is desperately needed in today’s world.

U.S. space competitiveness

While international cooperation was a central theme of the presentation, the conference also discussed U.S. competitiveness in space. That includes responding to what officials say are growing military threats from China and Russia.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said threats being monitored include physical threats to ground sites and space-based infrastructure, electronic warfare and cyber threats. China and Russia, in particular, continue to invest heavily in and deploy counter-space weapons.

Gordon, who chaired the meeting, directed Haines and her office to develop minimum cybersecurity standards for space systems. This will likely build on the Trump administration’s Space Policy Directive No. 5 issued in 2020 on cybersecurity of space systems.

Gordon is also tasked with the administration reviewing space-related export controls to ensure the competitiveness of U.S. industry while protecting national security interests. Don Graves, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, said the review, including policy and control list content, is ongoing.

The administration also used the meeting to announce a new mission authorization policy framework that will guide the Department of Commerce, Transportation and other agencies on how to authorize and continue to oversee currently unlicensed commercial space activities. The policy framework is a companion to a legislative proposal released by the White House in November that would provide the statutory authority needed for this process.

Transportation Undersecretary Polly Trottenberg told the committee meeting that the proposal was carefully developed by experts from various government agencies in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Council. These authorities will help ensure that the United States remains a global leader in aviation safety and interoperability.

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