WASHINGTON The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will not release its four-month review of U.S. space launch ranges until October, space.com has learned. The additional month will be used to allow more input from "stakeholder agencies involved," according to sources that have participated in the study.
As originally conceived, the review was to craft policy options for the future maintenance, modernization, and upgrades to U.S. military space launch and test facilities such as Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg Air Base, and White Sands Missile Range.
Among options reviewed in the study were selection of a private operator for the launching ranges, establishment of a fee-paying structure for future space launches, and a change in roles for the U.S. Air Force at the launch sites.
"Clear and appropriate roles and responsibilities of the government and the private sector, including management and operation of the U.S. space launch bases are critical to the ability of the four U.S. space sectors - military, intelligence, civil, and commercial to access space," the announcement of the study said last May.
The study was designed to assess the implications of the continuing increase in commercial launches and develop appropriate policy recommendations on the future management and use of the launch ranges. The White House said it would "assess civil, commercial, and national security roles and responsibilities for operations, maintenance, improvement, and modernization at U.S. space launch bases and ranges."
The Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Security Council conducted the review, begun last May following extensive debate within the U.S. commercial space community about who should control the federal ranges, which are increasingly being used by commercial and non-governmental launchers.
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