Vice President Harris Chairs a Meeting of the U.S. National Space Council Transcript

Please welcome the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, accompanied by the National Space Council. Please welcome Canadian Space Agency Astronaut and Artemis II crew member, Jeremy Hansen.

Madam Vice President, Council members, our audience here and online today. It is an honor for me to be with you all. I’m Canadian Space Agency astronaut Colonel Jeremy Hanson, and I have the privilege to represent Canada as one of four astronauts will fly on Artemis II. My three NASA crew mates, Christina Cook, Victor Glover, and Reed Wiseman and I will fly on Artemis II around the moon. It’ll be the first time humans do this in over 50 years. We’ll be aiming to test all the systems in the Orion spacecraft. Our mission will help lay the foundation for long-term exploration and scientific discovery at the moon through the Artemis program.

(02:20)
On behalf of Canada, the Canadian Space Agency, and the entire Artemis II crew, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the president and the Vice President, who I met last week along with my crew and our families, for their support of NASA’s goals and missions. I also want to thank the Vice President specifically for her strong leadership as chair of the National Space Council. Three years ago, she set forth a vision for this council that would advance innovation and promote the opportunity of space for all of humanity and do so by bringing together civil, national security, commercial and international space equities in a cohesive fashion. Under Vice President Harris’ leadership, the National Space Council continues to make significant progress, expanding international partnerships to advance the United States leadership in space as well as international rules and norms for sustainable space activities. Further, thanks to the initiatives led by the Vice President with support from the NASA administrator and Secretary of State, the United States has brought together an international coalition of Artemis Accord signatories to ensure that space exploration is conducted in a safe, sustainable and collaborative manner.

(03:47)
This is an example of true leadership. The strong relationship between the United States and Canada has a long history in space exploration and science, and I have to tell you that Canada is excited that this relationship now extends to the moon. NASA could have chosen to do this alone, but they intentionally chose to include Canada and a growing list of international partners. This extraordinary example of US leadership leverages our collective expertise and it is not only sincerely appreciated, but it is urgently needed in the world today. Artemis is supported by tens of thousands of people across the globe, including a growing commercial space industry that is boosting innovation, technological ingenuity, economic opportunity, and both international government and industry partnerships. I would like to commend the Vice President’s leadership, which extends beyond human space exploration, it includes expanding global earth observation satellite capabilities to combat the climate crisis, ensuring space capabilities can meet national security needs and growing the space economy. All these activities are rooted in international partnerships.

(05:12)
As you can see, the endless possibilities of space unite us and discovery strengthens diplomacy here on earth. Together, we are inspiring the Artemis generation. We are proving that with collaboration and partnerships, we can improve life here on earth. It is now my distinct honor to introduce a champion for global alliances and breaking barriers both in space and here on earth, the Vice President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris.

Okay. Good afternoon everyone. Good afternoon. And I want to thank Colonel Hansen for the introduction and also for his work. Colonel, it was a pleasure to visit with you and the other Artemis II astronauts along with your families last week in my office in the White House, and through your courage, Colonel, and all of the astronauts and your determination and incredible skill, you and all the Artemis astronauts are helping to lead our nation and the world back to the moon. And today on the fourth anniversary of the establishment of the United States Space Force, I will recognize the guardians who are with us. I’d like you to stand please, so we can applaud you. Thank you each and all of you collectively for the work that you do. You make our nation so proud, and thank you for your service. So with that, welcome everyone to the third convening of our National Space Council, including the members of our administration, the private sector leaders who are here and of course, our international partners. The mission of the National Space Council is to preserve and advance America’s leadership in space. For generations, our nation has led the world in the exploration and use of space, and in the coming years, one of the primary ways we will continue to extend that leadership is by strengthening our international partnerships, combining our resources, scientific capacity and technical skill with that of our allies and partners around the world, all in furtherance of our collective vision. Here today are representatives from 33 nations, longstanding and new partners, all committed to work together in pursuit of shared priorities.

(08:22)
And today then I will discuss three of those priorities for space, tackling the climate crisis, establishing new international rules and norms, and advancing human space exploration. On the issue of the climate crisis. Earlier this month, I was with many of you where I represented the United States at COP 28. There I declared, nations must work together with more ambition and urgency to protect our world from climate disaster and to advance climate action. Here, I will add that to that end, we must also work together in space. Today, citizens, scientists and policymakers around the world rely on images and data collected in space to help fight against the climate crisis, to track deforestation, to predict the path of hurricanes and wildfires, to measure greenhouse gas emissions and to help reduce pollution. As part of this work, earlier this year, I received a briefing at NASA Goddard on the innovative partnership we have with South Korea and the European Union to use satellites to track global air quality.

(09:50)
However, in that briefing, I noticed a gap during the presentation, the southern hemisphere, it wasn’t covered. The result, of course, being that policymakers and public health officials across South America and the continent of Africa may not have access then to important data to issue, for example, air quality warnings, to draft clean air laws, to hold polluters accountable. So to fix this problem, we worked with our partners at the Italian Space Agency and next year, we will launch a satellite to collect air pollution data across the southern hemisphere, data that invariably will help hundreds of millions of people. Global collaboration to take on global challenges. My second area of focus today is the need to establish and strengthen international rules and norms for the peaceful and responsible use of space, common understandings of what is permissible and what is not. President Biden and I are deeply committed to preserve and strengthen the longstanding rules and norms that promote global stability, principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and freedom of navigation.

(11:23)
We are also committed to establish new standards to meet the challenges of the 21st century, in particular, in areas such as AI, cybersecurity, and, of course, space, to promote stability, sustainability, prosperity, and peace. Last year, I issued a global challenge for all nations to join our commitment not to conduct destructive, direct descent, anti-satellite missile testing. Since then, 36 other nations have joined us and I continue to urge more nations to do the same. Together with our international partners, the United States has also led the development of the Artemis Accords to establish clear norms for civil space exploration. Since the last meeting of our council, 12 more nations have signed on, bringing the total number to 33, all of whom are represented here today. Finally, last year I announced that the United States would develop the first regulatory framework for novel commercial space activities. And today, then, we release that framework which consists of both executive action and legislation that we recently sent to the United States Congress.

(12:52)
This, I believe, is one of the most significant steps we have taken to shape the future of the commercial space industry. President Biden and I are committed to establishing rules for commercial space activities that are strong enough to promote the safe and predictable use of space, but flexible enough to ensure that we do not stifle innovation. We intend that these domestic rules will serve as a model for global action. Finally, regarding the importance of international collaboration on human space exploration. The Artemis program is the most ambitious space exploration effort in generations. For the first time in more than half a century, the United States will return astronauts to the lunar surface. We will establish the first lunar base camp and the first station in lunar orbit, all of this in collaboration with our allies and partners. For example, the service module that will help carry Artemis astronauts to the moon was built by the European Space Agency and Europe, Japan and Canada will make significant contributions to the Lunar Space Station.

(14:17)
Today, in recognition of the essential role that our allies and partners play in the Artemis program, I’m proud then to announce that alongside American astronauts, we intend to land an international astronaut on the surface of the moon by the end of the decade. This announcement and this meeting of our National Space Council is further demonstration of our belief in the critical importance of international partnership. So now before I turn to my national security advisor, Dr. Phil Gordon, to moderate this meeting, I will conclude with this. I believe we are all here together because we agree space is a place of extraordinary opportunity. So our task, dare I say, our duty, as nations must be to work together to make that opportunity real and to preserve it for future generations. May God bless you all and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madam Vice President, and thanks sincerely to everybody here for joining us today. As the Vice President said, we will now pivot to the actual proceedings of the council. I’m going to propose that we break the discussion up under three main topics. The first is the role of international partnerships in space as a source of American leadership and strength. Second, the societal benefits that space provides to us here on earth, including in areas such as fighting the climate crisis and creating good jobs. And then finally, but hardly least, the issue of our efforts to lead the world, as the Vice President just announced, in a return to the moon.

(16:29)
Starting with international partnerships, obviously that has been a cornerstone of this administration’s foreign policy in general, it is certainly something that applies to space and a particular priority of the Vice President has been promoting international rules and norms in space. And so I’d first like to turn to Secretary of State Blinken to brief the group and the council on his efforts at the top of the State Department to advance these goals as well as to promote US leadership in space more generally. Secretary Blinken.

Phil, thank you very, very much and it’s wonderful to be with everyone here today, as well as in this remarkable and historic space. And I want to start by thanking the Vice President for not just convening us today, but for her stewardship of the National Space Council. Our leadership, America’s leadership in space, is critical to so many priorities here at home, for our national security, to our economic and technological competitiveness, to our strength and standing around the world. The remarkably diverse voices on this council reflect this expansive set of priorities and interests. And again, it’s so good to be with colleagues from across the government on this here today. It’s not exactly a secret that we’re in an era of extraordinary dynamism and activity for space exploration and research. More than 80 countries now operate in space. Dozens of space exploration companies are launching thousands of new satellites in orbit.

… the global space industry is valued at hundreds of billions of dollars. Space-related capabilities like GPS technology, satellite data are more integrated with our economy than ever before.

(18:13)
At the same time, I think we all know that new challenges have arisen, including from our strategic competitors. The landscape in which we operate now is far different than it was six decades ago when President Kennedy launched the mission that put a man on the moon. But our responsibilities are no less important, both for our own people, but also for humankind. Our obligation today is to shape the future of the space environment so that it benefits all. Those benefits are maximized for people around the world and for generations to come.

(18:54)
From our perspective, one of the most effective ways that we can do this is by leveraging our partnerships. By leading with diplomacy, we are best positioned to advance discoveries that benefit us at home and that bolster our leadership around the world. We know from experience that collaboration on space delivers, and we’ve seen that most recently with the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope and the landing of a rover on Mars, both projects that were made possible by international partnership and international collaboration.

(19:26)
Today, what I’d like to do is just briefly update the council on three lines of effort that the State Department is leading to advance international partnerships on space priorities. And the Vice President has touched on a number of these, but let me just foot stomp a few of the points that she made.

(19:39)
First, with our colleagues at NASA, we’ve grown the coalition of countries under the Artemis Accords, a set of practical principles to guide safe, peaceful, and sustainable space exploration and cooperation.

(19:54)
You heard the Vice President say this, when this council first met just two years ago, we had about a dozen countries participating in the Artemis Accords. Today, 33 countries are on board with 12 new signatories joining just over the past year, including Angola, which joined us earlier this month. To the ambassadors here with us today from those Artemis countries, thank you. Thank you for your partnership. Thank you for your collaboration.

(20:21)
We are determined to continue to expand this coalition and expand its areas of cooperation as well, like we did this past October in Baku when we agreed to take practical steps to increase mission deconfliction and ensure that future operations on the lunar surface are both transparent and safe.

(20:38)
Second, we have made significant progress toward ending destructive, direct ascent anti-satellite missile tests in space. A single test, a single test, can release thousands of pieces of debris into space, and we know it takes only one piece of debris, traveling at thousands of miles an hour, to destroy a satellite or threaten the life of an astronaut. Since Vice President Harris committed in April 2022 that the United States would refrain from conducting anti-satellite missile tests, 36 countries, as you’ve heard, have pledged to do the same. Next year we’ll continue our diplomatic efforts to establish this as an international norm.

(21:19)
Third, we’re laying the groundwork for future international collaboration. A few months ago in May, the State Department released our first ever strategic framework for space diplomacy. We’re leading with diplomacy, advancing space policy to leverage space activities to meet a wider range of diplomatic goals. For example, making progress on the climate crisis, contending with pollution, dealing with illegal under-reported and unregulated fishing. As part of those efforts, we’re continuing capacity building outreach to emerging space fairing nations. And here these partnerships, the transfer of knowledge, the transfer of expertise is in many ways one of our most powerful exports.

(22:04)
We’re also modernizing our diplomatic workforce to ensure that they have the skills that they need to advance US interests and maintain American leadership in space. Early next year, we’ll add an expert focused on space to our Science Envoy Program at the State Department.

(22:20)
One of the most remarkable powers of space exploration is its ability to bring people together across geographies in pursuit of knowledge of the wider universe and in pursuit of progress right here on Earth. So for the State Department, I can tell you we look forward to continued close collaboration with this council, with our partners abroad as we strive together to reach new frontiers. Thank you very much for being here today.

(22:47)
Phil.

Thank you, Tony. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Thank you.

(22:53)
So I want to turn next to National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan. Jake, you’ve been leading efforts at the NSC to integrate space into our overall national security policy, and I know you’ve put a premium on international partnerships and alliances, and I’d ask you to brief the council on those efforts.

Thank you, Phil. And building on both the Vice President and Secretary Blinken and to your question, we see national security, economic security, climate security, food security as all interrelated and all of them interrelated with space security. And so at the National Security Council working very closely with the Space Council, we have tried very hard to ensure that across all of our lines of effort, the ways in which our approach to space policy is integrated with the key priorities in each of these areas.

(23:47)
You mentioned one in particular and it picks up on the third line of effort that Secretary Blinken just laid out that the State Department is leading. And that is how we mobilize the whole government to deepen partnerships in space. Because when we are working together with the range of countries represented in this room and others as well, it enriches all of us and puts us all in a better strategic position.

(24:11)
So just in the course of the last few months, we’ve seen significant advances in terms of our partnerships. We’ve recently signed a new technology safeguards agreement with Australia, for example, which promotes greater cooperation between our space industries and greater protections for sensitive launch technology.

(24:32)
We’ve started a new initiative with Chile to build out Latin America’s regional space industry so we can better see satellite technology to tackle the biggest challenges of our time like climate change and food insecurity. And Chile will probably be quite interested in the satellite coverage of the Southern Hemisphere that the Vice President just announced alongside Italy.

(24:53)
We created a first of its kind trilateral dialogue on space security with the ROK in Japan, focused on countering space security threats and aligning our space security strategies as well. And we’re developing plans to launch a new $1.5 billion earth observation satellite with India, which will map the entirety of the earth’s surface every 12 days by early next year.

(25:19)
And if you look back over the course of the last two years, we’ve led comprehensive dialogues with countries like Japan and France on space. And these have become templates that we’re now extending to other countries as well. And they’ve led to groundbreaking commitments to strengthen commercial cooperation, enhance the resilience of our systems and promoting responsible behavior in space as well. And all of this cooperation’s only going to become more important as both the opportunities in space evolve and the threats in and to space evolve as well.

(25:49)
And speaking of threats and challenges, of course, part of the job of the National Security Council is to focus on this aspect as well. So earlier this year, President Biden actually released new classified space security guidance, which lays out our policies for our national security space community. And I want to thank all of the members of that community who are here in the room today.

(26:12)
It lays out plans to counter emerging threats and protect our national interest in space, but also the interests of allies and partners and to protect the norms and rules that Secretary Blinken and the Vice President spoke about.

(26:25)
And part of this fundamentally is about increasing integration with our allies and partners on space, on resilience, on operations, on capabilities, on information sharing.

(26:35)
So we now at the NSC are driving the implementation of this alongside all of the public facing elements of our integrated space strategy that you will hear over the course of the rest of the meeting today.

(26:48)
And finally, I just point out that we are continuing to ensure that our regulations like export controls are protecting against weapons proliferation, without interfering with and in fact, while promoting space innovation.

(27:03)
So together with our partners, our goal remains fundamental and that is to ensure that space is sustainable, safe, stable, and secure. And that is what we intend to do in partnership with all of you. And that goes for all of our partners both around the world and all of our partners across the interagency reflected on this dais here today. So thank you, Phil.

Great. Thank you, Jake.

(27:29)
I want to turn next to the director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines. And Avril, I know how much the two previous speakers rely on the work that you do, and I know how much the work that you do relies on space and how important it is not just to US national security, but to our allies and partners as well. So I would ask if you could brief the group and the council on how you see the current threat environment, including the issue of cyber threats to all of these capabilities.

Absolutely. Thanks very much Phil. And I really want to say upfront just how much the intelligence community appreciates the leadership that the Space Council has had in this area under obviously the Vice President’s tutelage and just to promote security, safety, resilience in the space domain so as to allow for the kind of exploration and use of space that we all recognize as critical to our future. And of course in the IC, as you say, we try to do our part by helping the folks around this room, but also more generally the American public understand the threat landscape. And unfortunately it is becoming increasingly challenging in space.

(28:38)
As we highlighted in our annual threat assessment this year, there are a number of growing threats in not just our, but also our allies and partners space-based capabilities that we are focused on. And to be clear, many of these threats present themselves not only to national space-based asset, but also to commercial systems.

(28:56)
And understanding those threats, building resilience, protecting our assets are fundamental to ensuring that we and our allies and partners are able to take advantage of the opportunities presented by space and protect our capacity to explore and use space to support such things as critical infrastructure, homeland security, scientific work, opportunities in the economic sphere, and of course the defense of our country. And the threats we’re monitoring include physical threats, electronic warfare, and as you noted, cyber threats really to ground sites and to space-based infrastructure.

(29:33)
China and Russia in particular continue to invest heavily in and are fielding counterspace weapons that can jam satellites, ground-based capabilities that can do the same, directed energy weapons and space-based antisatellite weapons that are intended to disrupt, to damage, destroy, target satellites, including through kinetic attacks. And these include weapons that when used are likely to create debris fields that can degrade the space environment and pose risks for other space-based platforms for years, obviously prompting the very work that the Vice President talked about, as did Tony.

(30:10)
Moreover, through cyber, really adversaries can target space-based systems often at a lower cost and with considerable potential impact. Consequently, we expect cyber threats will increase in this domain in the coming years, and one only needs to consider the potential harm that can be done to space-based military and civilian capabilities in the United States and around the world as a consequence of targeted attacks on global navigation and communication services to really understand how important it is to promote cybersecurity in this realm, which is a key focus for us.

(30:46)
And finally, I think it’s worth noting that another area of focus for us, particularly in the light of our increasing collaboration with and reliance on the commercial space industry, is on threats to our industry’s intellectual property, to space related supply chains and the expertise that is so critical to our collective success.

(31:05)
And in every respect, we recognize that our partnerships not only with allies and partners who are represented in the room today, but other state partners and private sector is fundamental to our work. And these partnerships, which we’ve been expanding and strengthening across the IC for the last several years are essential for understanding space, designing the international norms and promote peace that have been discussed, promoting collective action and accessing the expertise and knowledge needed to produce a more secure and safe environment in which to innovate and realize the potential opportunities offered by space for the benefit of all. And I’ll just leave it at that.

Perfect. Thank you, Avril. That’s great.

(31:45)
I want to turn now to our colleagues from the Department of Defense and we have Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks and the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, Admiral Chris Grady. And I think just as we’ve said that space and international partnership is important to the domains we’ve discussed in diplomacy and national security intelligence, I think, and I think our colleagues will confirm that it’s equally true at the Department of Defense. And especially as we see our allies and partners increasingly develop their own military space capacity, we feel it’s important to expand our cooperation with them. So let me turn it over to our DOD colleague, starting with Deputy Secretary Hicks.

Great. Thank you very much, Phil. And I’m here on behalf of Secretary Austin, who’s on his way back from the Middle East. So as you suggested, just as space touches every aspect of our lives, it touches every aspect of the Defense Department, communications, navigation, and reconnaissance beyond. And space can be a game changer in modern conflict, as we’ve seen in Ukraine.

(32:48)
And space is everywhere else, as Phil suggested the US military operates with a global network of increasingly capable space fairing allies and partners. And we’ve been expanding space cooperation and advancing US leadership and strength in several ways.

(33:04)
First, our combined space operations initiative now includes 10 nations: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We’re working together to improve space collaboration, operations, information sharing and interoperability.

(33:25)
Next is the deep space advanced radar capability part of our AUKUS Initiative with Australia and the UK. With sites in each nation, it will help continuously detect, track, identify, and characterize deep space objects.

(33:42)
A third example is resilience space architectures. For a long time you could count space constellations by the handful, satellites the size of school buses that took decades to buy and build and years to launch. But now we’re also leveraging proliferated constellations of smaller, resilient, lower-cost satellites. Some launch almost weekly, deploying dozens of payloads each time. America’s dynamic space sector enables it all.

(34:13)
Since 2018, the United States has outpaced the PRC’s growth in space launches and payloads by 2 to 12 times. From that standpoint, the space race has become a space chase and DOD believes that the new framework for novel commercial space activities will enable even more, fostering a competitive environment that attracts new investment, encourages innovation and novel space activities, and benefits the economy and national security. And let me turn to the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Chris Grady.

Thank you, Madam Secretary. Phil, thanks for leading this panel today. Thanks to the Vice President and thanks to all of my colleagues for their leadership.

(34:53)
Recent conflicts, I believe historically illustrated the indispensable role in our defense capabilities. And indeed, in my view, space has emerged as our most essential war fighting domain, integral to our national security, our coalition interoperability, and our global stability.

(35:13)
And it is through our mastery of this domain, mastery together with all of our allies and partners, that we gain unparalleled clarity in visualizing the battlefield, a perspective that is vital for informed rapid decision-making for precision effects, and ultimately for the awareness that we need to best defend our nations.

(35:36)
This pivotal role in space and in our space defense strategy is epitomized by the Global Positioning System that you see over there on the far right on my right, a prime example of space technology transforming not just military operations, but every facet of our modern society. Since its creation 50 years ago this month,

The Global Positioning System has grown into a cornerstone of our international community, a utility that each and every one of us uses in our everyday life. It is a testament to our nation’s drive to harness space technology for their betterment of humanity. And the applications of GPS permeate throughout numerous sectors beyond defense, significantly enhancing capabilities in agriculture, finance, public safety and environmental stability and sustainability. As a leader in innovation, a partner in collaboration, and a guardian of technology for the common good, the Department of Defense and the Joint Force are committed to responsible policymaking and the protection of critical space infrastructure. This balance between advancement and stewardship, between partnership and protection, defines the United States’ enduring leadership role in this crucial domain. And today, Space Guardians from the Second Space Operation Squadron provide uninterrupted GPS capabilities to civil, commercial, and military users around the world. Their around-the-clock operations ensure the services that we rely on in all walks of our lives, and they are ready when we most need them.

(37:28)
Their mission and the mission of all the Space Force is to secure our nation’s interests in, from, and to space. How fitting that we have this meeting today on the fourth birthday of the Space Force. The youngest service in our Joint Force is essential to protecting our most critical space systems, to collaborating with commercial industry, and to prioritizing our interoperability with allies and partners. The Space Force recently issued guidance for global partnerships to ensure that our nation’s newest service places partnering to win as one of its highest priorities. International cooperation space activities enhances our ability to innovate, to strengthen our common defense, and to conduct combined operations in support of our coalition of nations. In space and in every domain where we will find our nation’s joint force, it is our allies and partners who are one of our greatest competitive advantages. Thanks, Phil. And thanks to my fellow panelists.

Great. Thanks, Chris and Cath, and thanks to all of our opening speakers for really interesting and concise briefings, but even more importantly for the work that they have done since the last meeting of this council. And I think the discussion really underscores what we said at the top and what the Vice President said, which is that international partnerships are critical to all of this work. So based on that discussion and conclusion, on behalf of the Vice President, I’m going to make four asks of this group for the run-up to the next council. The first is that the Department of State and NASA develop a plan for implementing the Artemis Accords in practice. Second, that the Department of State and Defense continue to strengthen outreach to nations to encourage further commitments, not to conduct destructive direct ascent anti-satellite missile tests. Third, we’ll ask this group to develop a plan to better synchronize our nation’s ability to use space to enable international capacity building for work here on earth. And then finally, to the DNI, I’ll ask the group to develop minimum cyber security standards for space systems, something you highlighted.

(39:51)
I appreciate all of the speakers in this opening session. And with that, I want to pivot to the next topic that I proposed, which is how space provides societal benefits here on earth. And I’m going to first turn to NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. NASA obviously has an important role in fighting the climate crisis. As you heard the Vice President say, a priority for this administration and her. And NASA’s role includes the development and operation of leading-edge Earth observation satellites. So let me ask Deputy Administrator Melroy if you could brief the group on how NASA is working to address the need to ensure earth observation data is made openly available, including the point that the vice president raised about ensuring that it covers the Southern Hemisphere.

Yes. Thank you so much, Phil, and thank you to all my colleagues today for the opportunity to talk about NASA on behalf of Administrator Bill Nelson. Our vast, decades-long array of Earth-observing atmospheric and solar data satellites provide a comprehensive and a real-time history of the very dynamic and complex processes that are happening on our planet. NASA uniquely has the capacity to study the earth as a planet, which is really going to give us the means to protect it better. We have over two dozen satellites and instruments on orbit, including several instruments on the International Space Station, which are measuring air pollution, methane emissions, hurricanes, and so much more.

(41:39)
Administrator Nelson visited India recently and, as was mentioned previously, saw NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization’s NISAR satellite ahead of its launch next year. This is a first-of-a-kind, dual-band, synthetic aperture radar, which will help people worldwide understand and help mitigate the effects of our changing climate, in particular by using this unique technology to be able to see not just surface effects, but subsurface effects that will help us understand what’s happening to our climate.

(42:20)
And soon, NASA will launch PACE, which also carries a contribution from the Netherlands. Thank you. The satellite will improve global satellite observations of our living ocean, of aerosols that affect the atmosphere and cloud dynamics. These are all critical to helping us understand global water and food security, shipping, international fishing, and many other impacts. NASA and the Italian Space Agency are partnering to build and launch the Maya satellite. It’s an effort to investigate the health impacts of airborne particles that pollute some of the world’s most populous cities and have been linked to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, as well as adverse reproductive and other birth outcomes.

(43:14)
In April, the Vice President directed the National Space Council to expand the scope of our air quality monitoring in the Southern Hemisphere, as she mentioned today. As our part of the contribution to that, NASA will deepen its existing excellent partnership with USAID to improve the data that we collect in South America and Africa, to better understand the health impacts of pollution on those communities. And we’re making this data available throughout the world. We’ve made a special stride forward in that this year by making it more accessible through our recently launched Earth Information Center, which provides readily usable and accessible data to enable global understanding and also inspire the next generation as only NASA can. Thank you.

Thank you, Pam. That’s great. Sticking with the issue of climate and the environment, I’m going to turn next to our Deputy National Climate Advisor, Mary Frances Repko. Space-based information is obviously an essential element of our ability to measure and monitor and mitigate and adapt to the Earth’s changing environment, so I’d like to ask Mary Frances to provide this group an update on the administration’s overall efforts to use space to fight the climate crisis.

Thank you so much for this opportunity to be here with you today and to address the diplomatic corps assembled and the National Space Council. I think popularly, it might seem to some peculiar that the Deputy National Climate Advisor would be here to discuss matters of space until, as the Vice President mentioned, you look deeply at the important intersection of our space policy and of our climate policy. The reason we look to the leadership of space experts in addressing climate change in the Climate Policy Office at the White House has to do with the tremendous detection capability of our satellites, both as the Vice President mentioned to describe the impacts of climate change including deforestation, climate-fueled extreme weather, but also for its ability to detect pollutants of concern. One such pollutant of particular focus for us in the Climate Office is methane because it is a climate super pollutant that is many more times potent than carbon dioxide and is responsible for about a third of the warming from greenhouse gas emissions occurring today.

(45:56)
In November of 2021, President Biden unveiled the US Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, which is a whole of government effort to dramatically reduce US methane emissions, while protecting workers and communities, creating good jobs and promoting US emissions. In 2023 alone, federal agencies have now taken nearly a hundred actions to reduce methane emissions under that action plan. For example, at the climate talks just earlier this month, we announced a final rule from EPA in Dubai to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. The rule leverages cost-effective, innovative technologies to achieve a nearly 80% reduction in methane emissions from covered oil and gas sources, and that’s relative to business as usual. The rule, however, also establishes the first national super-emitter response program, which uses state-of-the-art technologies to rapidly identify major emissions events.

(47:07)
And that brings me to the intersection with space policy as has been described. To achieve our climate goals, we are using all available tools to measure, monitor, and detect methane emissions that are otherwise invisible to the naked eye. As was mentioned, NASA has played a pivotal role in this work and we are deeply grateful for NASA’s partnership. As part of NASA’s EMIT mission, the agency has used instruments on the International Space Station to detect more than 800 significant methane plumes worldwide just in the past 16 months, particularly from the oil and gas sector. NASA has created a publicly available online map to track these emissions. NASA is also partnering with other agencies to connect the satellite data with specific emission sources on the ground, such as by using aircraft carrying next-generation emissions detectors and sensors. And this past summer alone, NASA worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration to identify leaks from natural gas infrastructure in cities.

(48:18)
All of this is critical to us as we make particular policy choices about the scope and coverage of our national climate rules. We’re now working also to get these kinds of data into the hands of the companies and the workers who can actually go out and fix the leaks and halt these emissions. So in short, for us in the Climate Policy Office, NASA’s cutting-edge methane detection work is an integral part of the administration’s whole of government efforts to slash emissions of this particular super-pollutant while creating good jobs, protecting public health, and advancing US innovation. So space policy, it turns out, really is good climate policy.

Great. Thanks, Mary Frances. I’m going to turn next to Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Don Graves. And Don, two questions for you. One, I’d just ask you to provide an update on Commerce’s work, especially when it comes to space and the climate crisis, but also, and particularly for you, how you’re working to ensure that our space industry’s efforts abroad are able to contribute to well-paying jobs in this country.

Thanks so much, Phil, and I want to also thank the Vice President for her leadership in understanding the need to move with haste, and also to Chirag Parikh and the entire National Space Council that has been driving that council to make significant progress in a very short period of time. Secretary Raimondo and I know that the space economy brings myriad benefits to all Americans, and we’re using the full weight of the 13 bureaus of the Department of Commerce, a whole of commerce approach, to help ensure the US space industry is able to compete globally and to achieve our national goals.

(50:11)
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration, or NOAA, its weather satellites provided sophisticated and precise observations during this year’s hurricane and extreme weather events, helping to protect American lives and property. That mission is only going to increase in importance as we all know. As the climate continues to change. We know that NOAA will need to expand its engagement, its partnership, and its efforts along with our partners and allies all around the world to deal with those challenges. And through NOAA, and thanks to our interagency partners’ efforts, we’re providing satellite-derived data to support the first global assessments of progress toward the Paris Agreement goals, furthering the Space Enterprise’s role in international climate cooperation. And with our next-generation GeoXO satellites, we’ll also provide even more advanced data to assist with this critical issue.

(51:18)
The Department’s vital role in monitoring the environment extends to our orbits as well. Implementing Space Policy Directive 3, we’ve made a great deal of progress building out a modern, user-focused, and let me stress that, user-focused civil space situational awareness system. The Traffic Coordination System for Space, or TraCSS, is going to keep pace with the ever-evolving, very dynamic, and much more crowded space domain that we’ve all been talking about. We recognize that our responsibility for SSA extends beyond our borders. This is a global issue demanding American leadership. The Office of Space Commerce at NOAA is spearheading the development of technical standards and best practices for SSA with the international community to help usher in a global ecosystem of SSA that promotes safety, that enables and expands civil and commercial use of space.

(52:22)
All of this is made possible, only made possible, frankly, by a very vibrant US commercial sector that can grow domestically and can compete internationally without being overburdened by undue regulation. The Office of Space Commerce has reduced our average commercial remote sensing license processing time, for example, to 14 days, down from 48 days in 2020. This year alone, we took actions to relieve 69 restrictions across 11 licenses, allowing American companies to compete and lead with the fullest of their capabilities. But the US space industry is rapidly evolving and growing, as I said. As they innovate, so too must the government.

(53:14)
To support expanded space cooperation and a level playing field for US companies, the US is reviewing its export controls, including updating its control lists and policies to be more effective in the way that we administer those. But even broader reforms are absolutely necessary. That’s why we’ve worked closely with the Vice President, the National Space Council, with the Interagency since the last of these meetings to develop a legislative proposal and the framework that the Vice President mentioned to reform the system. Combined, these reforms at Commerce, working with our partners at the Department of Transportation, NASA, and others, are going to be well-positioned to develop that

… that light-touch, industry-friendly approach to ensure that the US space industry is competitive and that we can lead well into the 21st century. Thanks so much, Phil.

Thanks, Don, and thanks to all of you for your remarks, but again, more importantly for everything you’re doing to leverage space for humanity here on Earth. Based on this discussion, I’ll just have one tasking for this group on behalf of the vice president, which will be to review space-related export controls to better align them with our broader policy objectives and enable a globally competitive US space industrial base.

(54:44)
And with that, I’d like to pivot to the third topic that we put on the agenda for this discussion, which is the exciting topic of leading the return to the moon with an unrivaled network of allies and partners with the vice president and Colonel Hanson noted earlier, which, for the first time in over a half a century, humanity is returning to the moon. And we anticipate the first landing of American astronauts as part of the Artemis III mission. And as the vice president mentioned earlier, we plan to land an international Artemis astronaut on the lunar surface.

(55:19)
And I want to come back to Deputy Administrator Melroy. We can double tap NASA on this, given your central role in this activity. During the last meeting of the National Space Council, the vice president asked NASA to develop an initial lunar surface architecture. And Pam, I would ask you to provide an update to the council and the group on that work.

Thank you, Phil. I think I’d like to start just by supporting that last action about reviewing export control and the work of the Department of Commerce in this area. We’re building on experience. NASA believes in international partnerships, and I think the tremendous experience that we’ve had with our over a dozen nations partnering on the International Space Station. We’ve got longstanding partnerships with close friends and allies, Europe, Japan, and Canada, but we have new partners, as well, including the United Arab Emirates, which recently completed a six-month mission to the ISS in India, which will send an astronaut to the International Space Station for the first time as a growing partnership in human space flight.

(56:28)
So building on those experiences, we’re all in on international partnerships and we have developed an architecture, our Moon Tomorrow strategy, in consultation with industry and our international partners, and it critically depends on partnerships. As the vice president mentioned, we have existing partnerships already in our Artemis program. The European Space Agency provides the service module that powers the Orion crew capsule that will take Jeremy and his crew on Artemis II and the other Artemis missions.

(57:06)
In addition to that, we’re building Gateway, the world’s first space station around the moon, with our Canadian, European, and Japanese partners to enable critical logistics and science essential for our exploration of the moon. NASA is also working with partners on concepts that involve surface elements for Artemis, Japan and a pressurized crew rover, Italy crew habitation, the European Space Agency cargo landers, and Canada on a lunar rover. These strategic efforts will advance science, boost our national posture and capabilities, advance responsible behavior, and support a growing space sector with excellent jobs.

(57:56)
And as it has been mentioned already, how we go is just as important as what we do when we get there. And we believe that the Artemis Accords provides a framework. It’s a tremendous global leadership initiative in space policy. And I had the opportunity to talk to some of the representatives of the other Artemis Accord signatories today to thank them for their leadership, but also, I have the opportunity to report out that the signatory countries have been meeting and we have been hosting workshops to take the next steps, to talk in depth about the principles and how they might be implemented, how we can actually take steps that increase our transparency. And especially, we’re very focused on non-interference and helping others understand what it is that we are doing. We made tremendous progress last year and we’re excited about our next meeting. And we believe that this will advance the peaceful uses of outer space every bit as much as the technology. Thank you.

Excellent. Thank you. I want to turn next to the Deputy Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Stephen Welby. OSTP has a leading role in driving our scientific and technological developments in support of these lunar objectives we’ve been talking about. And I’d ask Deputy Director Welby to give us an update on that work.

Thank you, Phil, and let me also thank the vice president for her leadership and advocacy for space science and technology. Since last year’s meeting, OSTP released a national cis-lunar science and technology strategy in an effort to set a bold vision for the future of cis-lunar exploration. This is an important step to help support responsible, peaceful, and sustainable exploration of cis-lunar space.

(59:59)
As an example of the impact of this strategy, we’re now seeing important work being led by NASA, NSF, with cooperation from OSTP, and with our partners and allies to help explore new astronomical capabilities that might one day reside in the moon’s shielded zone, a unique area on the surface of the moon that doesn’t receive radio frequency interference from the Earth. The opportunities this allows us to advance scientific understanding and knowledge is enormous. We’re very excited to be working with international allies and commercial partners to advance our scientific understanding of the Earth, of the moon, of our solar system, and beyond.

(01:00:43)
When people go on a trip, as our Artemis astronauts will take to the moon, one of the first things they ask is, what’s the weather going to be when they get there? And space weather is a thing. The solar radiation and the flux of particles has important impacts on the lunar surface and on life here on Earth. For Artemis astronauts traveling to the moon, they’ll be supported in the future by too many space weather stations, one under development by NASA and one under development by our European Space Agency partners to help provide early warnings of harmful radiation and also to help us enhance our ability to forecast space weather events.

(01:01:28)
Space weather events are critical because, over the next two years, as we reach the peak of the sunspot cycle, we expect an increase in space weather events as the sun expels plasma and exerts strong magnetic fields that can impact us here on Earth. These can impact electric power systems, water supplies, communication systems, transportation, and much more. To help aid in our preparations to handle these kind of events, OSTP is releasing a new space weather implementation plan today. The implementation plan will direct departments and agencies help prepare to respond to these events by bolstering our nation’s resilience to space weather events. We’re committed to improving national preparedness for space weather and that commitment remains constant and is, in fact, more relevant and important than ever. Thanks.

Thank you. Great. So for our final two sets of comments, I want to turn to the Department of Transportation and then back to commerce. We have Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg from transportation, and then we’ll go back to Deputy Secretary Graves. Earlier today, you heard the vice president announce the policy framework for regulating a range of novel space activities. And I’d like to ask our colleagues, starting with Deputy Secretary Trottenberg, how their agencies, their respective departments are supporting US industry’s key role in developing the capabilities we need to enable our return to the moon. Polly.

Thank you. Thank you, Phil. Thank you for your leadership and that of the vice president, Chirag Parikh, and all our colleagues. I’m thrilled to be here on behalf of Secretary Buttigieg. Just in this past year, the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space safely conducted a record 117 launch and reentry activities. 12 of these involved human space flight and eight were conducted internationally. Given this growth, we’re thrilled to be able to discuss the recent National Space Council legislative proposal on in-space authorization and supervision of commercial novel space activities, as my colleague, Deputy Secretary Graves, referenced. This proposal was thoughtfully developed by agency experts across the government in collaboration with the National Space Council. It will ensure the Department of Transportation, along with the Department of Commerce, will authorize and supervise commercial novel space activities expeditiously, all while maintaining global leadership and safety. And of course, NASA and Department of Defense have been key participants in this legislative initiative as primary customers of these commercial space services.

(01:03:57)
This proposal supplements existing DOT authorities to ensure continued safe operations of space launches, Earth reentry, and human space flight. DOT and Commerce will work collaboratively to ensure the safe operations of commercial human space flight and transportation of goods on Earth, orbit to the moon, and beyond. These authorities will continue to be critical as the industry grows and develops new innovative activities that push the boundaries of space exploration and utilization, and these authorities will help ensure the US remains a global leader in aerospace safety and interoperability.

(01:04:32)
On the international front, DOT and the FAA is prioritizing the growth of our global partnerships with over 25 countries. In 2023 alone, the FAA met with UK, Brazil, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Italy, Sweden, Norway, and many other nations virtually on topics that will establish global safety and interoperability for the commercial space industry. These partnerships will enable the recognition of launch-related safety approvals between foreign governments, an important priority for this industry.

(01:05:02)
International recognition of US Government commercial space authorizations will reduce duplication between foreign governments, and eliminating dual licensing of a single US space operation conducted from another country simultaneously supports the growth of the US launch industry, while not compromising safety.

(01:05:21)
To further enable the growth of US space operations, FAA is also leveraging partners with our international peers to develop a multilateral forum. This will be a place where we collaborate and share best practices on safety, as well as the general operation of loss of launch and reentry sites. The administration’s legislative proposal and the framework announced by the vice president today laid the groundwork for a closer collaboration between the federal government and international partners, and DOT and FAA are excited to continue working with our sister agencies to ensure the US remains a global leader in commercial space transportation. Thank you, Phil.

Thank you, Polly. Don.

Thank you so much, Phil and Polly. Thank you again for the fantastic partnership that we’ve established between Department of Commerce and Department of Transportation. Phil, as you said, and the vice president said, the US is returning to the moon. The difference, though, is this time, it’s with our commercial space sector and our international partners. A successful sustained enterprise of lunar activity has to be underpinned by a robust commercial ecosystem of infrastructure, economic interests, and services.

(01:06:35)
US industry is involved in every aspect of our space program. Robotic landers operated by American companies will lead the way, transporting NASA and international payloads to the moon. Through the commercial lunar payload services program, NASA astronauts will follow in American rockets with American equipment. Our department has been closely engaged with the national cis-lunar science and technology strategy, and our advocacy on behalf of industry’s technological advancement drives towards its implementation.

(01:07:12)
Our our inter-agency work on a robust licensing framework for novel space activities will ensure that the commercial sector can maximize its role, offering customers lunar and cis-lunar services. Of course, as Deputy Director Welby mentioned, cis-lunar space is a very challenging environment. Unless properly monitored, tracked, and accounted for, space weather is going to pose a significant danger to all of the upcoming missions to the moon, as well as to our satellites in Earth’s orbit and the electrical grid here at home.

(01:07:50)
Leveraging the capabilities and assets of our inter-agency and international partners, including the European Space Agency, NOAA develops, deploys, and sustains operational space weather satellite systems that safeguard society on Earth and enable safe and effective human activities in space. NOAA’s operational space weather products, with new additional observations from unique and key orbital locations, as well as our track system that I mentioned earlier and its support for space situational awareness, will prove increasingly valuable as government and private sector actors expand into cis-lunar space. And with that, thanks so much, Phil.

Thank you, Don, and thanks to all of our speakers for those perspectives on our return to the moon, this time not alone, but with the most diverse coalition of partners ever assembled. I don’t have any due outs from this portion of the discussion. I can just reiterate what the vice president announced, which is our intention, alongside American astronauts to land an international astronaut on the surface of the moon by the end of the decade.

(01:08:59)
And with that, it remains for me only to thank all of you for coming and thank the council for your participation. I also want to thank the National Space Council Executive Director, Chirag Parikh, and his extraordinary team who did so much of the work in pulling this meeting together and will be doing so much of the followup. Thank them in advance for that.

(01:09:18)
The discussion really demonstrated the breadth and depth and diversity of our partnerships in the field of space. I think you heard from all of our colleagues how important it is to each of them in their respective areas. These partnerships are just vital for US objectives in space, whether those are fighting the climate crisis, or strengthening our national security, or promoting international rules and norms, or creating jobs, or leading the future of space exploration, as just discussed. So on behalf of President Biden, Vice President Harris and all of us, I just want to express deep appreciation to all of our partners who have been with us here today. And with that, the meeting is adjourned. Thank you all very much.