ON OCTOBER 18, the Washington Post reported on “the first revision of U.S. space policy in nearly 10 years.” The specifics of that revision remain largely classified; however, the government did post an unclassified overview of the new policy which can be read here.
According to that document, “the President authorized a new national space policy on August 31, 2006 that establishes overarching national policy that governs the conduct of U.S. space activities.” The document sets out a series of principles, goals, and guidelines that largely conform to the recommendations of the Commission to Assess United States National Security, Space Management, and Organization–otherwise known as the Rumsfeld Commission. That commission, which presented its recommendations in January of 2001, was authorized by a coalition of Republican senators who were concerned by the fact that “annual [Defense] budgets repeatedly short-change space programs,” and was chaired by Donald Rumsfeld, who had become the nominee for Secretary of Defense by the time the commission’s recommendations were delivered.
