A number of commentaries are beginning to appear in space industry media relative to both the content and tone of the recently released National Space Policy. Most view the policy as “released under the radar screen, and for the most part containing nothing new.” I disagree with the view that it contains “nothing new.” In my view the Commercial Space Goals and Guidelines embodied in the new policy are significantly strengthened over the previous 1996 policy. If these guidelines are turned into agency policies and practice, history could very well view the 2006 National Space Policy as the one that opened the space frontier to the commercial development of space.
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