SpaceRef Status Report From: Government Accountability Office Posted: Thursday, October 5, 2017
Full report:
http://www.gao.gov/assets/690/687588.pdfWhat GAO Found
Representatives from commercial space launch companies and spaceports GAO interviewed described advantages and disadvantages of moving the Office of Commercial Space Transportation to the Office of the Secretary of Transportation, but most of them favored moving the office. Conversely, most Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials GAO interviewed did not favor the idea. A senior official in the Office of Commercial Space Transportation said that there are advantages and disadvantages to moving the office and that whether such an action would be beneficial depends on the implementation details and the administration's preferences. Officials from the Office of the Secretary of Transportation said they currently do not have plans to move the office. Stakeholders' and officials' perspectives are based on what they perceive could occur as a result of a move, for example:
Communication and coordination: Department of Transportation (DOT) officials said that a possible advantage of moving the office would be having a unified point of contact for the industry in communicating about commercial space launch issues, while FAA officials said that moving the office could make it more difficult for FAA offices to coordinate on commercial space activities.
Regulations: Some stakeholders said that moving the office could help accelerate the pace of commercial space regulatory reform, but DOT officials said that moving the office would not necessarily do so.
More:
http://spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=50621
