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6 The Private Sector and Planetary Protection Policy Development
Pages 85-89

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From page 85...
... The only "new space" areas that implicate serious planetary protection concerns are missions to Mars.3 1  In the 2010 National Space Policy, "commercial space" activities involve "space goods, services, or activities provided by private sector enterprises that bear a reasonable portion of the investment risk and responsibility for the activity, operate in accordance with typical marketbased incentives for controlling cost and optimizing return on investment, and have the legal capacity to offer these goods or services to existing or potential nongovernmental customers." Executive Office of the President, National Space Policy of the United States of America, June 28, 2010, p.
From page 86...
... the participation of the private sector in the development of planetary protection policy. PLANETARY PROTECTION, THE PRIVATE SECTOR, AND THE REGULATORY GAP No federal regulatory agency has the jurisdiction to authorize and continually supervise on-orbit activities undertaken by private-sector entities, including activities that could raise planetary protection issues.4 The com 4  See, for example, Subcommittee on Space of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology, U.S.
From page 87...
... .7 In 2015, Congress required a report from the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on how the United States could authorize and continually supervise private sector on-orbit activities to meet its Outer Space Treaty (OST)
From page 88...
... It could empower a single agency to regulate private-sector space activities that raise planetary protection concerns. Congress could also adopt the approach recommended by the OSTP -- provide a federal regulatory agency with authority over private-sector space missions, the exercise of which is informed by an interagency process.13,14 Whatever approach Congress adopts to close the regulatory gap would benefit from the inclusion of mechanisms helping the private sector become familiar with expected authorization processes and associated timelines.
From page 89...
... Despite its openness to commercial participation, not many companies have been involved in COSPAR activities on planetary protection. Few firms have taken out Associated Supporter status,16 and few individuals working in the private sector appear within the ranks of COSPAR associates.17 The lack of private-sector participation in COSPAR's planetary protection policy development primarily exists because, to date, companies have not pursued space activities that implicate planetary protection.18 This pattern might change if commercial interest in Mars increases in the coming years, but, at the moment, there is little evidence of such a change.


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