3RD BIDEN-HARRIS NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL MEETING, December 2023

The third National Space Council meeting during the Biden-Harris Administration took place at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC on December 20, 2023.  The theme was international partnerships and representatives of all 33 signatories to the Artemis Accords were present. A contingent of U.S. Space Force Guardians was also there to celebrate the 4th birthday of the Space Force that day.

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the meeting, but did not preside over it. She left after her speech and her National Security Advisor, Phil Gordon, led the meeting.

In a break from tradition, the Vice President, who chairs the Space Council, was not the opening speaker.  Instead that honor went to Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, a member of the Artemis II crew, to highlight international cooperation.

The event began at 2:00 pm ET.  Two hours earlier, at noon, the White House publicly released two fact sheets and a new policy document in connection with the meeting.

• United States Novel Space Activities Authorization and Supervision Framework (companion to the legislative proposal sent to Congress on November 15, 2023)
• Fact Sheet: U.S. Novel Space Activities Authorization and Supervision Framework
• Fact Sheet: Strenthening U.S. International Partnerships

Afterwards, it released the text of Harris’s speech and the State Department released the text of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s speech.

• Remarks by Vice President Harris at a Meeting of the National Space Council
• Secretary Antony J. Blinken at a U.S. National Space Council Meeting

SpacePolicyOnline.com published two articles, one before the meeting based on the material released at noon, and one affer the meeting concluded:

• Harris to Announce International Lunar Astronaut, Mission Authorization Framework at Space Council Meeting
• International Partnerships, Mission Authorization, and Export Control Reform Highlight Space Council Meeting