Posted: Tue, Jul 16, 2002, 8:38 PM ET (0038 GMT)
The Bush Administration is planning a review and possibly a major overhaul of the nation's space policy, according to a new directive. National Security Presidential Directive 15 (NSPD-15), dated June 28 but not made publicly available until earlier this week, directs an interagency committee led by the National Security Council and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to review current national space policies. The three-step review will first look at commercial remote sensing, followed by space transportation, and concluding with recommended "[r]evision, consolidation, and/or elimination of existing national policy statements." The review is scheduled to be completed by the end of February 2003. The review is not unexpected: National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice had been quoted earlier this year as saying that such a review was in the works. There have been no substantial space policy statements since the Clinton Administration released its space policy in 1996.

Related Links:

•  OSTP "fact sheet" about NSPD-15