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SPI Hosts Reception for U.S.-Africa Space Forum and U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit

December 19, 2022April 4, 2023Event, News

SPI and Planet hosted a reception in honor of the U.S.-Africa Space Forum and the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.

The event provided an opportunity for attendees to discuss how the United States and African countries can collaborate in the space sector to drive change throughout the continent. The reception featured opening remarks from Chirag Parikh, Executive Secretary of the National Space Council,

Space-based capabilities such as communications, remote sensing, weather monitoring, and navigation are critical to the economic and social development of Africa. Space technologies can provide modern communications and monitoring services to billions of underserved populations. They can strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of local infrastructures for transportation, construction, agriculture, forestry, and water management. Space is vital not only to economic growth in Africa and African entrepreneurs, but also to conserving and protecting natural resources such as fisheries and forests against illegal exploitation.

Chirag Parikh, Executive Secretary of the National Space Council; Mário Augusto da Silva Oliveira, Minister of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social Communication, Republic of Angola; Zolana Rui João, General Director of GGPE (Angolan Space Office); Dr. Scott Pace, SPI Director

SPI Students Tour Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Meet with Chirag Parikh, Executive Secretary of National Space Council

December 19, 2022December 19, 2022News

On November 30th, SPI students and faculty toured the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) and met with Chirag Parikh, Executive Secretary of the National Space Council.

Students gained insights into the National Space Council and saw firsthand what its like to work in the EEOB in support of the Executive Branch.

The National Space Council provided an in-depth tour for SPI, and shared the EEOB’s history, the significance of its rooms, and illuminating anecdotes.

Students thoroughly enjoyed the tour, left inspired and invigorated, and thank the organizers for arranging it.

SPI Students Meet with Chirag Parikh, Executive Secretary of the National Space Council

SPI Students Tour Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Pictured in Indian Treaty Room

Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building

SPI Director, Dr. Scott Pace, Published in Journal of Space Safety Engineering — Examines Possible Futures for Crewed Space Station Cooperation

December 19, 2022December 19, 2022Authored Articles and Conference Papers, News

SPI Director, Dr. Scott Pace, was published in the Journal of Space Safety Engineering, a quarterly publication of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS).

His article, Alternative Futures for Crewed Space Cooperation After the International Space Station, considers the centrality of the International Space Station (ISS) in international human spaceflight cooperation, its diminishing technical viability, and prospective futures for crewed operations.

These alternatives include extending the ISS, participating in the Chinese Space Station, creating multiple smaller government and private platforms for human habitation, focusing on human missions to the Moon and Mars, or ceasing participation in human space exploration altogether.

Dr. Pace’s article evaluates the feasibility and attractiveness of these options for spacefaring states, and identifies the key technical, economic, and policy uncertainties that are likely to shape the future of human space exploration after the ISS.

Journal of Space Safety Engineering Cover

SPI Students Awarded Fellowships from Amazon Web Services, Axiom Space, and the GPS Innovation Alliance

November 28, 2022November 28, 2022News

Seven SPI students received ISTP fellowship awards for the 2022-2023 academic year! SPI congratulates each of the awardees, and thanks our corporate donors for their generous support!

Celine Der Boghosian, Katherine Neal, and Frank Spellman were named Amazon Web Services Space Fellows and received $10,000 each to support their education.

Megan Thompson and Eleanor Creasey were rewarded Axiom Space Fellowship Awards and received $10,000 each to support their education.

Jessica Denham and Hannah Browne were named GPS Innovation Alliance Space Fellows and received $10,000 each to support their education.

Dr. Aaron Bateman Interviewed by Lawfare’s Chatter Podcast — Discusses Espionage & Conflict in Space, Effects of Hollywood Portrayals

November 28, 2022November 28, 2022News

Dr. Aaron Bateman, SPI faculty, was interviewed by Lawfare’s Chatter podcast. Their insightful, engaging discussion examined the historical role of satellites in military planning, space weapons past and present, international treaties, and how Hollywood depictions of espionage and conflict in space have shaped public opinion.

Chatter Podcast Episode

SPI Director, Dr. Scott Pace, Cited by Vox Regarding White House’s Objectives for the Moon & Cislunar Space

November 28, 2022November 28, 2022News

SPI director, Dr. Scott Pace, was quoted by Vox in an article analyzing the White House’s National Cislunar Science and Technology Strategy.

“The test missions, like Artemis 1 going on now, and the next crewed mission and then the first landing, are fairly well laid out. The question is, ‘Well, what comes next?’”
Dr. Scott Pace

He posits that should the United States succeed in it’s objectives, the lunar environment would see significant development over the next decade including cislunar satellites, a lunar GPS network, a lunar space station, and a permanent outpost on the south pole of the Moon.

The article further examines international political considerations and space sustainability.

Image: NASA Illustration of astronauts on the lunar South Pole

SPI Student, Drew Garza, Featured in GW Today: Discusses Military Service, Scholarships, and SPI Opportunities

November 14, 2022November 14, 2022News

“It’s almost impossible for you to come to GW and not get involved in some really unique and cool things that just don’t happen other places.”
-Andrew Garza

SPI student Andrew Garza was featured in GW Today. He discussed his military service, the scholarships that enabled his education at GWU, and the opportunities afforded to him by the Space Policy Institute.

Drew is a U.S. Army veteran with 10 years of service in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he earned a Bronze Star Medal and Combat Action Badge. His dedication has been recognized in the academic sphere as well, where he was awarded a prestigious Pat Tillman Foundation scholarship and a Dr. Harris and Naomi Goodman Yellow Ribbon Scholarship.

Drew is a program manager at the Science Mission Directorate of NASA, and an alumnus of SPI’s joint MA/MBA program. He is currently pursuing a PhD at GW, researching trustworthy artificial intelligence in space sustainability systems.

SPI student, Joshua Ingersoll, Selected for Aviation Week & Space Technology’s “20 Twenties: The New Faces of Aerospace and Defense”

November 14, 2022November 14, 2022News

SPI student, Joshua Ingersoll, was selected by Aviation Week & Space Technology for this year’s 20 in Their Twenties list of aerospace professionals to watch.

Mr. Ingersoll’s research interests focus on the intersection of aerospace engineering and federal regulatory policy.

At SPI he has researched the effects of the Land Remote Sensing Act on the relationship between federal regulators, commercial Earth-observation companies, and the Department of Defense.

Joshua is a satellite regulatory engineer at Amazon’s Project Kuiper. He previously worked at The Aerospace Corporation, and interned with Airbus OneWeb Satellites through the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program.

Recipients of 20 Twenties: The New Faces of Aerospace and Defense — Ingersoll: Back row, right

TWENTY20-2022 Download

Call for Student Papers: 2022 Sacknoff Prize for Space History

November 14, 2022November 14, 2022News

Application deadline: November 30th, 2022

Sacknoff Prize website

Awarded since 2011, the Sacknoff Prize for Space History is designed to encourage original research by university students—undergraduate or graduate—in the field of space history.

The prize is open to all students and is not limited to those at United States institutions. (Papers written by a team of students are also accepted.) Students must be enrolled at an educational institution at the time of submission and working toward a degree: undergraduate, graduate, or military. Papers already published or scheduled for publication in another journal will NOT be accepted.

In addition to the $500 cash prize, the winning paper will be published in the peer-reviewed history journal, Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly and will be given the opportunity to present their paper at the Society for the History of Technology annual meeting to the Albatross Special Interest Group on aerospace.

Possible Topics
Although works must be historical in character, they can draw on other disciplines—such as culture studies, literature, communications, economics, engineering, and science. Possible historical subjects include, but are not limited to:

Historical aspects of space institutions and their leaders
Case studies of companies and space business activities
International efforts and programs
Space technology development
Human flight and robotic exploration programs
Regulation of space businesses
Politics and policies impacting space activities from a historical perspective
Financial and economic aspects of the space industry
The social effects of spaceflight
The space environment
Space system design, engineering, and safety

Please visit the Sacknoff Prize website for more information.

SPI Director, Dr. Scott Pace, Presents Annual Minta Martin Lecture at MIT

November 7, 2022November 7, 2022News, Testimony, Presentations and Panel Appearances

SPI Director, Dr. Scott Pace, gave the prestigious Minta Martin Lecture for 2022 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology‘s Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics.

His lecture U.S. Space Policy, National Security & Global Futures, focused on U.S. national space policy and the work of the National Space Council during his tenure as Executive Secretary. He discussed issues pertaining to the national security, commercial, and civil sectors, as well as diplomatic, political, economic, and technological solutions necessary for the United States to succeed in space.

The Minta Martin Lecture is delivered in conjunction with a professorship established at MIT in 1955 in honor of Jerome Clarke Hunsaker, a leading figure in aviation and longtime Head of the MIT Aeronautical Engineering Department. Major Lester D. Gardner, founder of the Institute of Aerospace Sciences, conceived and aided in founding this endowed chair. To emphasize its national character, Glenn L. Martin contributed a special gift in April 1954 providing for presentation of this lecture, named after his mother, Minta Martin, who inspired him to his aeronautical achievements. The Minta Martin Lecture is given by the Hunsaker Professor in several Aeronautical centers throughout the nation each year.

Dr. Pace is an alumnus of MIT, and received master’s degrees in Aeronautics & Astronautics and Technology & Policy in 1982. SPI congratulates him on this prestigious recognition!

Recording of Dr. Pace’s 2022 Minta Martin Lecture at MIT