spacetoday.net: US releases new national space policy

Posted: Mon, Oct 9, 2006, 8:17 AM ET (1217 GMT)
The Bush Administration released late Friday a new national space policy, a document that emphasized the country's need for freedom of access to space. The national space policy is the final document in a series of new policies developed in the last several years by the administration; previous documents have focused on specific issues like navigation and transportation. The document itself contains few new directions for the US in space, although much of the document discusses the requirement for the US to freely access space, and the right of the country to take action against those that would restrict that freedom. The policy also discusses the role of the Defense Department, intelligence community, NASA, and other government agencies in various aspects of space. The policy, signed by President Bush on August 31st, was only released by the Office of Science and Technology Policy late on a Friday afternoon before a three-day weekend.