Dr. Michael Dodge Testifies before U.S. House Committee

On September 7th, 2016, Assistant Professor of Space Studies, Dr. Michael Dodge testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. The hearing purpose was to take a look at the state of the space-based commercial remote sensing industry with an eye towards discerning whether any of the current laws or regulations on the subject need to be updated, revised, or otherwise changed. This entailed a look at how current law and regulation affects the success, positively or otherwise, of the private remote sensing providers in the United States.

Prof. Dodge was invited to give his opinion on the current state of law, regulation, and policy. The essence of his testimony was that current law and regulation have served the United States and its private interests well, but that the current structure in which commercial remote sensing industry labors is often onerous and outdated. He testified that United States National Space Policy, as well as Commercial Remote Sensing Policy, both argue for the success of private industry in space activities, and that this can be improved by changing the regulatory structure—with surgical modifications of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992—to better reflect the realities of the modern remote sensing. He also testified for better enforcement of current regulatory standards, as applied to commercial remote sensing interests. The specifics of his written testimony can be found here.