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AIA Hosts Second Annual Space Leadership Forum

Top officials from the White House, Defense Department, U.S. Air Force, Commerce Department, FAA and NASA met with AIA’s Space Council for a day of discussions at the second annual Space Leadership Forum April 1.

Citing the importance of stable budgets for civil and national security space programs, AIA President and CEO Marion C. Blakey opened the forum by highlighting the need to achieve efficiencies as federal spending incurs greater scrutiny. She emphasized the critical role that export control reform could play in stabilizing the industrial base as well as supporting a competitive and innovative commercial space sector.

AIA members speak with NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver

Enhancing interagency coordination was a major theme of last year’s Space Leadership Forum and one of the major contributors to the decision to make the forum an annual AIA event. During this year’s forum, AIA was pleased to learn more about the Defense Department’s Defense Space Council and its work to bring various space stakeholders from the civil and national security communities together.

A key discussion centered on some of the themes of AIA’s recent international space roundtable. Industry stressed the importance of leadership at the top level of the U.S. government to promote space exports and research and development. Some argued that government and industry should determine what space technologies need to be protected for national security purposes, allowing other capabilities to be commercialized, thereby taking pressure off federal budgets.

AIA will be using some of the insights gained from its Space Leadership Forum series to inform the development of its upcoming National Space Strategy White Paper. AIA hopes to develop additional recommendations and informational material that support government efforts to further strengthen the U.S. space sector.

AIA Source: mike.conschafter[at]aia-aerospace.org