Hidden and hampered: elevating the Office of Commercial Space Transportation

Winning the new space race with China is contingent on the competitiveness of the United States commercial space industry. While the Chinese space program enjoys the full financial and regulatory backing of its government, the U.S. space industry must grapple with burdensome regulations and oversight conducted by a confusing array of offices buried within multiple federal agencies. These offices are staffed by civil servants and regulators trying to do the right thing every day, but their efforts are often hidden and hampered by the morass of the federal bureaucracy that resists change and slows down innovation.