SWF Co-Organizes Panel Event on “Implications of Space Station Privatization: Policy and Planning Ahead"

On Thursday, April 26th, 2018, Secure World Foundation, the University of Colorado Boulder AeroSpace Ventures, and the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade partnered to host an evening panel discussion and networking reception on the topic of “Implications of Space Station Privatization: Policy and Planning Ahead” on CU Boulder’s campus. As NASA plans for transition of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2025 for greater utilization by the private sector, in the context of a broader policy goal to stimulate development of commercial markets and services in low Earth orbit (LEO); this panel discussed a number of policy questions and issues that must be explored in planning for that transition.

Topics raised during the discussion included:

• The nature of the planning and evaluation for the ISS's future during the Transition period between the Obama and Trump Administration.
• The role of NASA's international partners in defining the future state of the ISS.
• Existing use cases, and required capabilities, for microgravity research performed on the ISS.
• Market and policy challenges in stimulating (and evaluating the results of) additional research community uptake of ISS capabilities; including discussion of shifting budget towards research support and reducing operations & maintenance costs.