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Hosted Payload Episode 8: Priya Venkat / A Million Miles Away
[IP Hot Topics Podcast] Innovation Conversations: Allen Chen
BLACK HISTORY MONTH | KATHERINE JOHNSON AND CHARLES DREW
It is the Federal Government’s policy that, when available and practicable, a Government contractor should obtain a tariff duty exemption. This is common sense. A tariff duty makes a contract more expensive for 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
NASA budget cuts reflect a strategic alignment to support the commercial space sector The 2026 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) budget proposal represents a significant turning point for the United States...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
As private industry and government entities increasingly venture into space, securing IP rights for space-related innovations has become a critical consideration. The global space industry is projected to generate more than...more
For companies in the aerospace and defense industry, the future of space innovation involves far more than rockets and satellites. Intellectual property, technology transfers, data privacy, and life sciences are among the...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
The Trump Administration recently issued a new Executive Order titled "Modernizing Defense Acquisitions and Spurring Innovation in the Defense Industrial Base." The directive, announced April 9, 2025, aims to reform the...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! 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
The Trump Administration on March 20, 2025, issued an executive order titled "Eliminating Waste and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement" (the EO), which will result in a major change in the landscape of...more
Congress is prioritizing new legislation to authorize NASA and support commercial space activities. The proposed bills aim to maintain a vibrant commercial space sector by streamlining licensing regulations and ensuring that...more
For space, defense, and industrial technology companies, securing government contracts is often a major growth milestone. But without a clear IP strategy, working with agencies like NASA or the Department of Defense (DoD) can...more
On January 15, the Department of Defense, GSA, and NASA published proposed rules that would implement the Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act. The Act was enacted on December 27, 2022....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
The incoming Trump administration has sent many signals that it intends to ramp up the Department of Defense’s use of nontraditional acquisition pathways to bridge the “Valley of Death” and bring innovative technologies to...more
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
Generally speaking, the U.S. procurement system allows companies competing for U.S. government contracts broad rights to challenge contract awards, as well as the terms of solicitations. There are, however, restrictions...more
With the establishment of the Texas Space Commission in 2024 through House Bill 3447 and rapid innovations toward space commercialization by industry-leading companies, NASA, and institutions of higher education in the state,...more
In 2024, as in years past, healthcare fraud enforcement by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) was substantial. Federal actions under the False Claims Act (FCA) alone resulted in $1.67 billion in settlements and judgments...more
On January 15, 2025, the Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (collectively, “the FAR Council”) issued a long-anticipated proposed...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
A contractor who is proposed for debarment is effectively debarred as soon as the notice letter is received. It is like being sentenced before trial and it can take weeks, or months, for the contractor to convince the...more
On January 3, 2025, the Defense Department, GSA, and NASA (together, the "FAR Council") published its final rule amending the suspension and debarment procedures under the Federal Acquisition Regulation ("FAR"). The rule,...more