Class Name: PAD 5309 — Space Policy and Management
Instructor: Gregg Buckingham, a School of Public Administration adjunct instructor and retired associate lecturer.
During his 28-year NASA career, Buckingham served in various roles in Washington, D.C., and at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), including positions in the NASA Administrator’s Office, the Space Shuttle Logistics Program and external relations at KSC.
When is the class offered?
The class will be offered fully online in Fall 2026.
What is the class about?
For many people, astronauts and engineers are among the first things that come to mind when thinking about space exploration. What they may not picture is the host of professionals working behind the scenes whose jobs are crucial to managing and implementing space policy.
UCF’s Space Policy and Management course offers graduate students — as well as select undergraduate students — a historical overview of the policy and administrative issues surrounding space exploration, from presidential initiatives and congressional oversight to governance, infrastructure, international competition and cooperation, and commercial participation.
From the Instructor
Gregg Buckingham
What is space policy?
A policy is simply a direction that an organization wants to go in. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy stood before Congress and proposed that the United States should land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth in a decade — and Congress agreed. That’s a policy statement.
Over NASA’s history, the United States has shifted direction from the moonshot to the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, and now to increased commercial involvement in space, while also carrying out a host of scientific missions. Each direction was sponsored by a president, funded by Congress and implemented by NASA. Many variables drive these policy and management changes, including national prestige, efficiency and technology development.
How do public administration and public policy intersect with the space industry?
NASA is a government organization, and like any organization, it has administrative needs involving budgeting, procurement, organizational structure and leadership. With 10 primary field centers nationwide, various components of NASA’s mission are carried out across the centers.
When people think about space, they often think about rocket launches, engineers, scientists and astronauts — and they are certainly very important. But behind that technical work are contract specialists, finance and accounting professionals, public affairs professionals and many other necessary roles to support the agency’s technical work.
Emergency management is crucial, too. NASA has valuable facilities and hardware to protect during events such as hurricanes, and for launches, public-safety planning and preparation in case something doesn’t go as planned.
What will students learn in this course?
This course uses NASA as a case study for government infrastructure and governance in space exploration. We’ll discuss the organization and structure of the NASA network over the last 70 years, from policymaking and implementation to collaborative governance and communication.
In the space policy arena, students will learn about the many stakeholders that affect policy in one way or another. The president and Congress set policy and determine the budget, but other organizations — including commercial firms such as SpaceX and Boeing — also have an ongoing interest in NASA’s work.
Some of the resources we’ll use include NASA’s oral histories with astronauts and administrators, as well as recordings from the Presidential Library system of presidents discussing the space program with NASA administrators and engineers. The goal is for students to gain a sense of different approaches to and perspectives on space policy and space management. They’ll also look at leaders from around NASA and the impact they’ve had on programs and policy.
Who should take this course?
This graduate-level course is open to students across the university, including those studying engineering, business, political science and public administration. It’ll also be available to outstanding undergraduate students.
Anyone interested in working in the space industry or government in some capacity could benefit from gaining perspective on policy and management, especially those who plan to move up from a technical position to a managerial one. Many of the variables that affect policy are similar whether you’re at NASA, the Department of Defense or another government agency.
What do you hope students take away from the experience?
My goal is to convey the excitement, innovation and creativity that goes into the space program and the role policy, management and administration play in making it possible. The course focuses on the space program, but students will also gain a broader understanding of the relationship between industry and government and how it can be applied to whichever sector they choose to pursue.
