NSS Leadership
NSS Policy Leadership Team NSS Policy Leadership Team
National Space Society Board
Policy Leadership Team
The NSS policy leadership team includes members who have specific responsibilities involving NSS policy development and advocacy. They devote considerable unpaid time to furthering the Society’s goals by developing and advancing policy objectives. These leaders include the Policy Committee, the Policy Committee Chair, and Policy Leads. Select students may be offered Policy Internship positions.
The Policy Chair leads the Policy Committee in developing the positions of the Society, and the strategies to pursue them, that are related to Congress, government, and legislative action. The Policy Chair is the chief representative and advocate on policy matters and reports to the NSS Executive Vice President.
Policy leads are members of the policy committee and lead the development of policy and advocacy for a specific portfolio or area.
You can contact the NSS policy leadership team at [email protected].
Grant Henriksen – Policy Committee Chair
Grant is an engineer and graduate student. He is currently pursuing an MS degree in Space Studies at the University of North Dakota, with a focus on space policy, law, economics, and planetary science. His interests include remote sensing, international law, space commerce, the history of spaceflight, and the utilization of extraterrestrial resources. He spent 22 years in the commercial software industry after earning his BS in Computer Science with a minor in Economics from North Dakota State University.
Policy Leads
Adam Brodkin – Orbital Debris
Adam is a space lawyer specializing in satellite regulation, licensing, and rulemaking activities. He has a JD from the George Mason University Law School and a BA in Economics from Lehigh University. He is also an orbital debris policy subject matter expert with a passion for future in-space activities. He has presented his orbital debris management research regarding on-orbit recycling to the International Space University and to the French Space Agency, CNES. Adam had been the NSS Orbital Debris Policy Lead since December 2021.
John Mankins – Space Solar Power
John C. Mankins is an entrepreneur and internationally-recognized leader in technology and systems innovation and management. He currently serves as co-Chair of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Permanent Committee on Space Solar Power and has been recognized as a leading expert in the field of space solar power. He is leading the 2024 international study project on SSPHe is also the Founder and President of Mankins Space Technology, Inc., the President of Artemis Innovation Management Solutions LLC, a Director of Solar Space Technologies, Pty. Ltd., and a Professor at Kepler Space Institute. He served as Chief Technologist for Human Exploration and Development of Space at NASA, lead for NASA’s Lunar Outpost team in 2003, providing the key concepts that led to the Vision for Space Exploration in 2004. And, he is the past Vice President of the international Moon Village Association. Mr. Mankins has received numerous honors during his career, including the prestigious NASA Exceptional Technology Achievement Medal. He has published more than 100 technical papers and two books: The First International Assessment of Space Solar Power (2011) and The Case for Space Solar Power (2014).
Jonathan Dagle – Planetary Defense
Jonathan is a technologist, strategist, and futurist with extensive experience in government and working with nonprofits. A retired Air Force officer with diverse experiences managing a bombing range in Germany, planning air combat operations in Korea and Italy, instructing aircrew on airborne command posts, and as a strategist at Air Force “Checkmate” following the attacks of Sept 11, 2001. He has consulted on several Army War College studies. He has been an active space policy advocate since 2020, and has led NSS Planetary Defense efforts since May 2022.
Policy Interns
NSS offers internship opportunities to qualified individuals pursuing education or work related to space policy.
