On June 16, 2025, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo released text and a section-by-section summary of the Senate’s proposed One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The Senate passed a revised version of this measure on July 1,...more
7/7/2025
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
Congressional Budget Office ,
Federal Funding ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Popular ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Senate Finance Committee ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
On May 13, 2025, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced that the Commerce Department initiated a rescission of the Biden Administration’s Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion (“AI...more
6/30/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Bots ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Collective Actions ,
Deep Fake ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Free Speech ,
Government Agencies ,
New Guidance ,
New Regulations ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Secretary of Commerce ,
Semiconductors ,
Technology Sector ,
Training ,
U.S. Commerce Department
Good Afternoon! The past couple of weeks in space policy news have been dominated by defense headlines. In the U.S., a “czar” was appointed to oversee the Golden Dome project and the Pentagon began looking into alternative...more
6/30/2025
/ Aerospace ,
Defense Sector ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Executive Orders ,
FCC ,
Government Agencies ,
NASA ,
National Security ,
NATO ,
New Legislation ,
Pentagon ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Request For Information ,
Trump Administration
It’s been a busy couple of weeks in space policy. Although the House Appropriations Committee kept defense funding flat at FY25 levels, it significantly increased funding for Space Force and RDT&E. On the north side of the...more
Welcome to a special edition of Akin’s Space Law, Regulation and Policy Update. We held out hope that the NASA budget would be released in time for our Friday deadline, but that was not to be. And a lot has happened since our...more
On May 19, 2025, President Trump signed the bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act into law. The Act criminalizes the publication of nonconsensual intimate visual depictions of individuals, including AI-generated deepfakes. Threats to...more
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a series of significant updates affecting export controls on advanced computing integrated circuits (ICs), artificial intelligence (AI)...more
It’s been a busy couple of weeks on Capitol Hill with at least half a dozen space-related hearings, the introduction of a bill that would modernize human spaceflight infrastructure at Johnson Space Center and another that...more
Good Afternoon! It’s been a busy couple of weeks in space and space policy. President Trump proposed a $6 billion cut to NASA's budget and a $1 trillion defense budget, the nominee to lead NASA is moving to the full Senate...more
Good Afternoon! As we approach the 100-day mark for the second Trump administration, there is plenty of space policy news. Jared Issacman told the Senate during his confirmation hearing that NASA can pursue parallel moon and...more
Good Afternoon! There have been plenty of space headlines over the past couple of weeks. Butch and Suni finally got a ride home. The Senate Commerce Committee moved important space bills forward and Space Systems Command...more
Good Afternoon! Space developments have kept a steady pace these past two weeks. NASA terminated $420 million in contracts to align with DOGE’s cost-cutting push. The U.S. Space Force plans to launch 100+ satellites in...more
Good Afternoon! It was a busy couple of weeks on the Moon! Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost became the second commercial spacecraft to successfully land on the Moon. It later achieved another first by successfully acquiring and...more
Good Afternoon! Though space policy hasn’t dominated recent headlines, plenty has happened over the past two weeks: The House Science committee outlined its space priorities and requested GAO review of FAA launch rules,...more
2/24/2025
/ Aerospace ,
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Foreign Policy ,
GAO ,
International Trade ,
Japan ,
NASA ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Technology Sector
Good Afternoon! U.S. Chamber launches space leadership council, Crew 9 has to stay…just a little bit longer, and new executive orders spur reviews, revisions and other activity across U.S. space agencies, and Akin’s Micheal...more
Welcome to the November-December edition of Akin Intelligence. As the end of 2024 approached, the European Union (EU) sustained progress on guidance and supporting materials for its AI Act and international AI Safety...more
2/3/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
China ,
Clinical Trials ,
Compliance ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
GAO ,
New Rules ,
NIST ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Semiconductors ,
Technology Sector
Good Afternoon! Forget the past two weeks, it’s been a busy week in the business of space. Since President Trump’s inauguration, Washington has been busy shuffling the deck on U.S. space leadership and priorities. Outside...more
Good Afternoon! It was quite the holiday season for space: the FCC rounded out the year with a great gift, allocating additional spectrum for commercial launch and reentry vessels, and the Parker Solar Probe’s record-breaking...more
Good Afternoon! NORAD may not have fired up the Santa Tracker just yet, but the first two weeks of December have been chock full of presents for the space industry, with the FAA digging into licensing reform, NASA deciding...more
Welcome to the Akin Intelligence September-October recap. Around the one-year anniversary of the AI Executive Order, the White House announced that agencies had carried out their directives. Members of Congress introduced a...more
12/16/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
COPPA ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
National Security ,
NIST ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Semiconductors ,
UK
On December 7, 2024, House and Senate Armed Services committee leaders unveiled legislative text (H.R. 5009) and a joint explanatory statement for the fiscal year (FY) 2025 must-pass defense authorization bill, which contains...more
Good Afternoon! We did not publish last week because of the holiday, but the space business certainly didn’t succumb to a turkey-fueled nap. President-elect Trump named his pick to head NASA and the new EU space commissioner...more
Until 11 December 2024, artificial intelligence (AI) stakeholders such as AI systems providers, businesses, national authorities, academia, research institutions and civil society are invited to provide feedback to the AI...more
On 14 November 2024, the European Union’s AI Office published the first draft of the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice (the Code). The purpose of the Code is to help providers (i.e., developers) of general-purpose AI models...more
Good Afternoon! After the Republicans’ sweeping victory in last week’s election, the space community waits for guidance from the incoming Administration. Meanwhile, Congress enters the lame duck session with a slate of...more
11/18/2024
/ China ,
FCC ,
Japan ,
Licensing Rules ,
NASA ,
NDAA ,
Poland ,
Proposed Rules ,
Satellites ,
SpaceX ,
Sustainability