Akin Space Law, Regulation and Policy Update | March 9, 2026

There has been a lot of orbital maneuvering in Washington over the past two weeks as the House Science Committee leadership rebuffed a proposed FCC rulemaking focused on space safety and admonished the commission not to drift beyond its spectrum mandate, a Senate bill sought to extend the International Space Station’s life an additional two years and NASA announced it was reshuffling its lunar priorities yet again.

Around the world, China’s expanding space footprint in Latin America is raising alarm bells in the U.S.; Europe and Beijing use lasers to achieve gigabit links to GEO and the U.S. complained about EU plans intended to protect the European space industrial base.

All this and more in this edition of Akin’s Space Law, Regulation and Policy Update.