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May 15, 2020 RPC Meeting

10:30 am – (5 minutes) Call to Order

10:35 am – (10 minutes) Remarks on Artemis Accords: NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine

10:55 am – (10 minutes) Questions for Administrator Bridenstine and OIIR Acting Associate Administrator Mike Gold

11:05 am – (20 minutes) Commercial Platforms: Briefer - Kelvin Coleman, FAA

11:25 am – (90 minutes) Commercial Platforms: Consideration of Findings and Recommendations

Break, 12:20-12:30

12:30 pm – (20 minutes) COVID-19 Response: Consideration of Findings and Recommendations

1:00 pm – (15 minutes) Spectrum Management Briefing

1:15 pm – (75 minutes) Spectrum Management: Consideration of Findings and Recommendations

Break, as possible

2:30 pm – (20 minutes) Adjourn

Agenda

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RPC

BREAK UNTIL 12:30

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Exploration of pathways for ensuring payloads and mission operations aboard commercial space station modules and commercial space stations build on current successes and comply with regulation

• NASA built and operates the International Space Station (ISS), providing a unique and supremely useful platform in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) where it, other government agencies, universities, non-profits, and commercial entities perform scientific research and explore and develop business lines.

• Payload and mission operations aboard the ISS are subject to strict requirements designed to ensure crew and vehicle safety.

• The ISS has a finite lifetime.• The International Space Station has been a tremendous incubator of

continuous government-led microgravity research and commercial business models.

• Operations on the ISS have evolved over time to facilitate commercial operations and operations by international partners

• One of the great legacies of the ISS is likely to be birthing a LEO economy where private companies field and operate space station modules and free flying space stations.

Topic Introduction – Regulatory Reform for Commercial Space Development

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Topic Introduction – Regulatory Reform for Commercial Space Development

• NASA seeks to maintain a presence LEO after the ISS is retired in order to, among other things, continue space life and physical science research and train astronauts.

• NASA seeks to become one of many customers of future LEO commercial platforms, departing from its current landlord status.

• In order to make this vision a reality, a vibrant LEO economy must be born.

• Commercial platform providers and other tenants must sustainably come on-line.

• Many considerations to make this happen, among them: regulation.

• Regulation (or lack of regulation) of future commercial modules and platforms will affect commercial investment in LEO and rate of adoption.

NASA’s framework for commercial development of LEO. Image credit: NASA1

1https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/commleodevt_plan_6-7-19_final-links-new.pdf

Exploration of pathways for ensuring payloads and mission operations aboard commercial space station modules and commercial space stations build on current successes and comply with regulation

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Commercial Platforms: Briefer

Kelvin Coleman, FAA

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Commercial Platforms: Consideration of Findings and RecommendationsFinding and Recommendation 1 (four total)

Finding 1 - approvedVia the International Space Station (ISS) NASA has built a more than 20-year history of continuously operating a human habitat in low Earth orbit and, over such time, has expanded the ISS’s user base. Driven in part by an open dialogue with industry, NASA has refined and streamlined its processes for efficient and safe verification and validation of payloads and payload operations aboard the ISS. This evolution should be applauded, as it has kept the vehicle and the crew safe and birthed an environment for new users, especially commercial users, to experiment and operate aboard the International Space Station.

Recommendation 1 - approvedSharing of the evolution of NASA's approaches to verification and validation of payloads and payload operations on the ISS would be beneficial to current and future users of the ISS as well as stakeholders in future commercial platforms. NASA should publicly report on this evolution as well as future refinements to its processes and maintain a continued dialogue with industry stakeholders.

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Commercial Platforms: Consideration of Findings and RecommendationsFinding and Recommendation 2 (four total)

Finding 2 - approvedAs the user base of the ISS has grown, NASA has leveraged its experience in safe payload operations to empower others, such as international partners, to carry out payload safety verification and validation processes. This leveraging beneficially reduces NASA's operational burdens while expanding the knowledge base of potential users of future commercial space platforms.

Recommendation 2 – approvedCognizant of the existing oversight and liability frameworks, NASA should expand its efforts to empower non-governmental users to carry out all or portions of the payload safety and verification process, including training emerging users of the ISS in this area.

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Commercial Platforms: Consideration of Findings and RecommendationsFinding and Recommendation 3 (four total)

Finding 3 -approvedUsing the ISS as a training ground for future commercial space platform operations will increase the likelihood of sustainable success and the usefulness of such private sector platforms.

Recommendation 3 - approvedNASA should explore, where mutually beneficial, commercial users of the ISS and potential future operators of commercial space platforms providing services such as payload safety and verification for its operations as well as the purchase of on-orbit crew time from private sector astronauts aboard the ISS. NASA is encouraged to continue a dialogue with the private sector in these areas. Emphasis should be placed on testing and implementing more cost-effective and cost-certain methods while maintaining the ISS's high operational cadence and track record of safe operations.

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Commercial Platforms: Consideration of Findings and RecommendationsFinding and Recommendation 4 (four total)

Finding 4 - approvedNASA's desire to purchase accommodations and crew time from future commercial space stations will include certain minimum levels of services and safety factors. These considerations will drive requirements which affect the fundamental design and operation of future commercial space stations in ways that may not be immediately obvious to the commercial space community. Failure to meet these requirements may result in costly rework, the inability to provide services to NASA, and/or pressure for NASA to relax safety requirements.

Recommendation 4 -approvedNASA should utilize a performance-based approach for setting requirements with respect to commercial platforms. Those requirements for securing accommodations from future commercial space stations and the purchase of crew time from the private sector should, with as much specificity and certainty as possible be shared freely and publicly, so that current and prospective future platform operators can factor these requirements into their designs and future operations. Once established, in order to avoid additional costs and rework, every effort should be made to limit changes to only those resulting from new data-driven health and safety concerns.

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• The COVID-19 pandemic has had an abrupt and dramatic impact on people’s lives and their livelihoods around the world• NASA has taken extraordinary and proactive steps to ensure to protect the health of its employees and contractors• NASA has also been very proactive in protecting the economic health of its contractor and supplier base• NASA has led by example in moving its operations and decision making forward via major program selection announcements such as the

second CLPS task order announcement and the HLS selection announcement

Topic Introduction – COVID-19 ResponseDiscussion of NASA’s response to COVID-19

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COVID-19 Response: Consideration of Findings and RecommendationsFinding and Recommendation 7 (one total)Finding 7 – approved COVID-19 has impacted NASA's contractor and supplier base in quantifiable ways as well as ways that are more difficult to measure at this stage of the pandemic. NASA's announcements of multiple major program selections during nearly nationwide safer-at-home orders is a testament to its dedication to its missions, maintaining the health of its contractor base, and its commitment to continued integration of commercial service models and forward leaning technology development enterprises. NASA has prioritized its staff and continued mission operations, despite regional and nationwide impacts.

Recommendation 7a – approved In order to protect operational capacity and the financial and personal health of its contractors, NASA should expand its efforts to actively support its contractors and commercial partners during the coronavirus pandemic, especially small businesses, by, for example, avoiding delays in solicitation releases and selection announcements. We encourage NASA to continue its focus on safe and successful mission operations as the situation evolves. NASA should pay particular attention to the health of the US supply base.

Recommendation 7b – approved NASA should acknowledge and support larger enterprises, contractors, and commercial partners who take similar steps to support and protect operational capacity in their subcontractor networks. In particular, differences in regional impacts of the pandemic should be noted by center and program.

Recommendation 7c – approved NASA should gather lessons learned from its initial response to the COVID-19 crisis and apply lessons learned to planning for potential future impacts from COVID-19 and other future potential public health crises.

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• Many different organizations have jurisdiction over spectrum utilization with each different charter• Historically, globally harmonized “quiet” spectrum bands have been set aside• NASA has used these bands for astrophysics, Earth science, and human exploration• Telecommunications is utilizing more and more spectrum bands, driven in part by 5G systems coming on-line• Patchwork allocation of spectrum may cause pollution of spectrum bands relevant to NASA’s missions. If left unchecked, NASA’s ability

to do Nobel-class science or deep space human exploration may be severely impaired

Topic Introduction – Spectrum Management ConsiderationsDiscussion of NASA’s approach to Spectrum Management in a changing telecommunications world

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Spectrum Management Considerations: Briefer

Vic Sparrow, NASA

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Spectrum Management: Consideration of Findings and RecommendationsFinding and Recommendation 5 (two total)

Finding 5 – approved The current U.S. spectrum regulatory structure challenges NASA’s broad technology goals. Increased utilization of spectrum bands and bifurcated allocation responsibilities by multiple US regulators with competing interests impacts NASA efforts to introduce new technologies into its broad mission types and may complicate future human exploration of space and scientific data collection.

Recommendation 5a – approved NASA should identify potential current and future scientific mission types and human spaceflight operations that are impacted by spectrum-related regulatory issues at the domestic and international levels.

Recommendation 5b – approved For potentially impacted missions, NASA should investigate mitigation strategies and advocate for mitigation or avoidance of these impacts with relevant spectrum management organizations.

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Spectrum Management: Consideration of Findings and RecommendationsFinding and Recommendation 6 (two total)

Finding 6 – approved Spectrum utilization to support future telecommunications needs (e.g., 5G and beyond satcom) will continue, as will NASA's scientific endeavors, the human exploration of space, and space-based commerce.

Recommendation 6 – approved NASA should engage with the space industry and investigate potential spectrum challenges and opportunities for regulatory collaboration to ensure that space commerce, remote sensing, scientific observation of other celestial bodies and space, and the human exploration of space are not hindered.