Organizing for America | Gary Oleson's Blog: Recreate the National Space Council

Recreate the National Space Council

By Gary Oleson - Jun 16th, 2008 at 4:50 am EDT

Also listed in: Space Policy Advisory Group

Comments | Mail to a Friend | Report Objectionable Content

Several policy proposals were discussed at the second meeting of the Obama'08 Space Policy Advisory Group at the International Space Development Conference (ISDC). One that received broad approval was to recreate the White House National Space Council that existed off and on from the Eisenhower Administration until 1993. I volunteered to write a paper to document the idea and I managed to get some great reviews and suggestions from several experienced people. The result is in the extended post below.

Opportunity to Show Leadership on Aerospace and Win Votes in Key States

Aerospace workers and other space-interested voters make up significant constituencies in several key states, notably Ohio and Florida. Since the space program is heavily dependent on Presidential leadership, these voters tend to become anxious at each change of administration. Fears about their future are likely to focus on any candidate who suggests that space programs should be cut back or canceled.

It isn't necessary to commit to all current space programs to reassure these voters. Committing to listen to them is actually more effective. They are used to space being given lip service as a minor issue. Senator Obama has had some success in reassuring aerospace workers in Florida, as reported in Florida Today, by showing that he's looking into the space issue with an intent to re-energize the space program. At an earlier Indiana event, Senator Obama spoke of space as "a major debate I'm going to want to convene when I'm president of the United States. What direction do we take the space program?" This is a very positive approach, since many aerospace voters are concerned about one or another aspect of the space program.

There are two challenges in making a commitment to listen credible to aerospace voters: convincing them it's not just a campaign promise and creating a way to manage the debate and implement its results during the Obama Administration. There is no agency in the Federal Government with a broad enough mandate to manage a comprehensive debate on all aspects of the diverse Federal space-related programs being run by NASA, DoD, the Commerce Department, the Transportation Department, etc., much less some of the new projects being proposed. As commercial development increasingly expands American space activities beyond their traditional centers in Defense and NASA and the global economy becomes increasingly dependent on our space infrastructure, a clearinghouse for the various interests is badly needed.

For example, the United States is lagging India, China, and Japan in exploring how space could contribute to solving the problem of large-scale clean energy supplies. People have been saying for years that the idea of space solar power can't get a hearing because NASA doesn't do energy and the Department of Energy doesn't do space. One might add that the Department of Defense, which has interests in both space and energy, doesn't do commercial development.

Fortunately, the historical precedent of having a National Space Council as part of the Executive Office of the President addresses the needs of both the campaign and the new administration. This Council could be modeled on the interagency National Space Council (1989-1993) and the earlier National Aeronautics and Space Council (1958-1973), both chaired by the Vice President, to coordinate the creation and implementation of space policy for all Federal agencies. Variants of the Council model have been used periodically by Democratic and Republican Administrations for the past fifty years. The current Administration opted to manage space policy via the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Security Council (NSC). With few exceptions, this model has been comparatively ineffective.

A National Space Council could be critical to advancing such interagency issues on climate change, space communications, technical innovation, and the commercial uses of space. One example is coordinating the critical role of industry in meeting DoD's growing bandwidth challenges. Another is providing a clearinghouse for the development of innovative new technologies that fall between the cracks of current agency boundaries. We are missing opportunities because no agency is charged with helping space industries in the way that the Federal government helped the infant aviation industry before World War II.

A campaign commitment to recreate a White House National Space Council would demonstrate to aerospace voters that the Senator is serious in his commitment to listen to them. It could hit the ground running in creating a true national debate on space. It would also prove very useful in sorting out all the diverse space interests and proposals that have accumulated during the last decade and making sure that comprehensive policies and strategies are created. If properly managed, this could produce an easy early victory for the Obama Administration.

Show 1 Reader Comment	Comments RSS
Comments are closed for this post.

Content on blogs in My.BarackObama represents the opinions of community members and in no way should be interpreted as endorsed or approved by the campaign.