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 Managers. Select students may be offered Policy Internship positions.
The Policy Chair leads the Policy Committee in developing the positions of the Society regarding legislative matters and the strategy and program through which the Society advances them. The Policy Chair is the chief representative and advocate on policy matters and reports to the NSS Executive Vice President.
Policy managers are members of the policy committee and lead the development policy and advocacy for a specific portfolio or area.
Jonathan Dagle – Policy Committee Chair and Planetary Defense Policy Manager
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 Managers
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 Manager since December 2021.
Randy Gigante – Space Solar Power
Randy has been active in NSS policy for more than five years, serving as both Deputy Chair and Policy Chair. He has been advocating for Space Solar Power for over 35 years, developing a business plan for the first Solar Power System in the 1980’s. Since then, he has managed the construction of the first large-scale solar arrays for communications satellites for Hughes Aircraft and developed and installed ground systems for LEO and GEO satellite systems in Japan, Africa, and the Middle East. He served two years on the Board of NSS as Regional Director for the Mid-Atlantic region. Randy is the former Policy Chair and became the Space Solar Power policy manager in September 2022.
Grant Henriksen – Oversight and Regulation
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 Interns
NSS offers internship opportunities to qualified individuals pursuing education or work related to space policy. Policy interns for 2023 are:
Archana Asrani, Senior Policy Intern (Planetary Defense)
Archana recently graduated from the University of North Dakota with a Master of Science in Space Studies, with a concentration in Policy, from the University of North Dakota. She also holds a BS in Computer Science, and an MS in Marketing Communications. Her work experience includes start-ups and multinational companies in Silicon Valley and abroad. She is absolutely thrilled to intern with NSS, to further her knowledge and obtain experience in the space industry.
Anoushka Gandotra, Policy Intern (Orbital Debris)
Anoushka is a first-year public policy student at Georgia Institute of Technology who is currently volunteering with the National Space Society and enjoys space research. At Georgia Tech, Anoushka is part of Ethics Bowl, GT Hyperloop, and 3484 Magazine. She is also VP of the GT Public Policy Undergraduate Student Organization.