The Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States has recommended that the United States —

“Develop and pursue options for advancing U.S. interests in stability in outer space and in increasing warning and decision-time. The options should include the possibility of negotiated measures.”

The bi-partisan commission was chaired by William J. Perry and vice-chaired by James R. Schlesinger, both former secretaries of defense.

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The Commission was established pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008. Its 12 members were appointed equally by the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. The other 10 members were: Harry Cartland, John Foster, John Glenn, Morton Halperin, Lee Hamilton, Fred Ikle, Keith Payne, Bruce Tarter, Ellen Williams and James Woolsey. Their work was facilitated by, and the report was published by, the U.S. Institute of Peace.

In its chapter on arms control, the Commission stated that:

“As part of its work, the Commission surveyed other arms control issues. Two further proposed measures require discussion here. The first is arms control in space. Russia and China are keenly interested in such control, not least because they hope that such measures can be used to limit U.S. missile defenses. The Bush administration took a strong stance against it. This is an issue that will not disappear. The strong dependence of U.S. conventional military forces on space-based communications and sensors makes this an issue of great and continuing importance. There are other serious civilian issues such as space situational awareness, space debris, and space traffic management that could be used to develop international discussion and working relationships. The actual promise of space arms control is unclear. In the Commission’s view, the United States should seriously study these issues and prepare to lead an international debate about how to craft a control regime in space that serves its national security interests and the broader interests of the international community.” (emphasis added)

Eilene Galloway, one of the first and foremost experts in space policy and space law, lost a long battle with cancer on May 2, 2009, two days short of her 103^rd birthday. She passed away in the Washington, D.C. home in which she had lived since 1941, surrounded by family.

On the day the Space Age began with the Soviet launch of Sputnik, October 4, 1957, Dr. Galloway was a senior specialist in national defense and international relations at the Legislative Reference Service (now the Congressional Research Service), Library of Congress. Leaders of the Senate and the House both turned to her to help determine how the United States should respond to this startling development. Dr. Galloway worked with then-Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson and the Senate Armed Services Committee to hold a series of hearings. Dr. Galloway often commented on how those hearings, and the testimony of scientists and engineers engaged in the International Geophysical Year (IGY), “turned fear into hope” as everyone came to understand the tremendous potential of using space for peaceful purposes.

She also worked with then-Speaker of the House John McCormack and others in the House and Senate in drafting the law that created NASA.

She was instrumental especially in drafting Section 205, which allows NASA to engage in international space activities. Dr. Galloway was passionate about international cooperation, and was closely involved in the formation of the International Institute of Space Law and the International Academy of Astronautics and was an active participant in those organizations.

Dr. Galloway was similarly passionate about preventing weapons from being launched into space, and the need for human exploration of space.

Dr. Galloway retired from CRS in 1975, but continued to write and speak about space policy and space law. Her most recent op-ed article — Space Law for a Moon-Mars Program — was published in Space News on March 30, 2009.

She leaves her son, Jonathan, currently a Vice President of the International Institute of Space Law, six grandchildren and five great grandchildren. A memorial service will be held in Washington, DC, probably in June.

To see three short videoclips of a NASA interview as she turned 100 in 2006, click here.