OSC Leadership Remarks on Milestone Microgravity Commercialization Announcement

On Friday, August 7, 2026, the Office of Space Commerce’s leadership – Assistant Secretary Taylor Jordan, Director, and Gabriel Swiney, Deputy Director (Acting) – joined representatives from the U.S. government, U.S. commercial space sector, and the medical research community to celebrate a historic milestone in the commercial use of space-enabled microgravity for pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Watch the panel discussion below:

Remarks:

Thank you so much. I want to congratulate everyone involved in this. It’s extremely exciting, and we’re really quite proud. First, I also want to echo the sentiment of Secretary Howard Lutnick. He said recently, “The time to be bold is now, and the place to be bold is space.” You all are being bold, and this is exactly what we want to see, so we’re incredibly proud of you all.

Historically, there have been very few things that actually happened in space — Earth observations and communications — and we think that is about to change. Your mission is the evidence of that. We are going to be there right alongside you. As you said, mission authorization — our framework that was directed to us in an executive order — is moving forward. We have worked with industry and the interagency, and we have the thumbs up from the White House.

Soon you will see on the Federal Register a call for applications to begin the process of authorizing all these new ,novel technologies. You have a great mission ahead of us, and we look forward to working directly with you.

I want to close by saying the Office of Space Commerce is the only place in government whose mission is to support the commercial space industry. We have your back, we work tirelessly for you, and we will continue to do so. So thank you for everything you’re doing, and we look forward to being good partners with you.

Assistant Secretary Taylor Jordan, Director, Office of Space Commerce

This announcement is a really big deal, and it aligns perfectly with what we are trying to achieve at OSC. Taylor talked already about how we are battering down the walls from regulations and building a pathway to “yes” for these and all other kinds of novel activities in commercial space.

We’re also implementing the President’s directive to attract $50 billion of additional investment into the commercial space industry. As Taylor said, there have traditionally been ‘two-ish’ ways to make money in space… but you all are learning through doing; finding linkages with new industries that themselves are used to taking risks, used to putting the power of American technology and ingenuity together on these long-shot plays that do sometimes work out. That’s what it’s going to take to achieve the $50 billion and more in additional investment, and therefore ultimately bring benefits to the American people.

So I’ll echo the congratulations. Obviously, this is an enormous deal not just for all involved, but for the entire space community. What it takes is to prove that this is possible — prove that it is possible to use space and the capabilities that space can bring to do things that we’ve never done before, in space. That’s what will unlock the rest of space for all the other companies and, ultimately, the American people and the benefits.

So I’ll just end by echoing what Taylor said at the end: at the Office of Space Commerce, we’re here to help you. Everyone in this audience, everyone listening online — if you are involved in commercial space and you find problems with the U.S. government, or there’s something you think we could be doing better or differently, please come to us. We exist to bring your perspective into that decision-making. So thank you, and thanks for including us.

Gabriel Swiney, Deputy Director (Acting), Office of Space Commerce