Harris Asks Agencies for Proposals on Novel Commercial Space Regulation

On Friday, September 9, 2022, tax partner Babak Nikravesh presented to U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris at her second assembly of the White House National Space Council at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Vice President Harris sought input from government agencies, educators and the business community on potential updates to the rules framework governing the commercial space industry to ensure the clarity and consistency needed to attract investors. Babak presented current investment trends in the space sector and impressed upon the vice president the importance of institutional investment to maintain America’s advantage. Babak was part of a panel of private sector witnesses that supported Harris’s call for regulatory certainty. Other panelists included Ruth Stilwell from Aerospace Policy Solutions and Chris Kunstadter from AXA XL.

“This is an exciting time for the commercial space industry,” noted Babak. “2021 witnessed more than $15 billion invested in space related businesses, nearly doubling the amount invested from the year before. Venture capital accounted for the great majority of those dollars, as it has for the past few years. We saw more venture capital targeting space start-ups than ever before, both in terms of absolute dollars and number of transactions. And that should come as no surprise. Venture investors are comfortable making bets on early stage, high growth companies which present greater degrees of risk than businesses favored by other industries.”

Read more on Space Policy Online and watch Babak’s panel session starting at 1:27:24.