U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has said President Donald Trump will issue an executive order to revive the National Space Council, Space News reported Tuesday.
Jeff Foust writes Pence said Monday at a ceremony for the presidential signing of a NASA authorization bill that Trump asked him to chair the space council that last operated under the George H.W. Bush administration.
Trump signed the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 into law to fund the space agency’s deep-space human exploration, science, technology and aeronautics programs.
Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Oklahoma) said the White House will need time to select members for the National Space Council.
Bridenstine added the interagency council, if relaunched, could help the government address issues such as the transfer of space situational awareness responsibilities from the U.S. Air Force to a civilian agency; use of commercial weather satellite data to support government systems; and the creation of an “America first” space launch policy, according to the report.
