Greg Autry

Autry earned a BA in History from California Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1999 and an MBA in from the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine in 2002. He earned a PhD from the same school in 2013.[2] Autry’s doctoral dissertation focused on the role of government in the emergence of new industries, using the emerging NewSpace or “commercial spaceflight” sector as a research context. Autry collected data from interviews with commercial space actors as well as information from industry journals and presentations at industry conferences. His analysis combined management, sociological and policy models.[6] [7]

Autry’s first academic publication was a 2011 paper in the proceedings of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics SPACE 2011 conference entitled “Space Policy, Intergenerational Ethics and the Environment” which argued that public investment in space technology was justified by future economic, societal and environmental returns.[12] Other notable academic publications include two pieces for the New Space Journal, a peer reviewed journal. He currently serves on the editorial board of that journal.[13]

Autry published numerous articles and op-eds in newspapers and news sites throughout the 2000’s and 2010’s. Most of his writings were on the space business or China policy. His work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, LA Times, Washington Times and Newsweek. Recently he has been a frequent contributor at Forbes, Foreign Policy and Space News.

Autry is also extensively quoted in mainstream media articles on the space industry and on China policy. His thoughts on these topics have been noted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Politico and the Washington Post. He has appeared on television many times including the BBC and CNN.[14] [15]

Autry’s pieces and quotes often argue that public investment in NASA’s traditional and commercial programs returns value to the taxpayer. He is an advocate for human settlement of the solar system. He asserts that this movement is required to secure continued global economic development and long-term environmental sustainability which he does not believe can be achieved via traditional “green” solutions.[16] He serves as Vice President for Space Development at the National Space Society and previously served on its board of directors.[17] Autry has also been a noted critic of the Chinese Communist Party for more than a decade. arguing that the Chinese government has violated human rights, labor norms, environmental norms, treaty obligations and trade agreements. In 2011, Autry published Death by China with Peter Navarro, a professor at UC Irvine with whom he had written many op-eds and articles.[18] In 2012 he served as a producer on a documentary film of the same name, directed by Navarro and narrated by Martin Sheen.[19]

Autry in the Boeing CST-100 Starliner Capsule

Autry has twice testified to the United States Congress on China issues. On March 21, 2013 he presented testimony entitled “Cyber Attacks: An Unprecedented Threat to US National Security” to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats.[20] Autry warned that China’s Internet intrusions against US firms was costing the American economy hundreds of billions of dollars, jobs and in consequence of the hazard of unemployment, thousands of American lives lost. He compared the impact of these attacks to the September 11 attacks. Long before it became a controversial issue in many Western nations, he urged to removal of Huawei equipment from American telecommunications networks, stating, “We should have a ban on the import of any Chinese networking hardware, and specifically I mean Huawei”.

On March 21, 2013 Autry presented testimony entitled “The Price of Public Diplomacy with China” to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversights and Investigations.[21] In this testimony Autry, warned of China’s “perception management” campaign in the US designed to “legitimize” China’s non-democratic system with the support of American collaborators in government, industry and universities.

Autry also testified to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee at a nomination hearing on November 10, 2020.[22] During his testimony Autry argued that public investment in space was justified. Autry noted the challenges of 2020 faced on Earth and reminded the committee that the Apollo landings occurred during a period of war, civil unrest and even a major pandemic (the Hong Kong flu).[23][24]

During the 2016-2017 presidential transition, Autry served on the Agency Review Team at NASA.[25] These teams are tasked with evaluating government agencies and making policy recommendations to the incoming administration.[26]

The team’s recommendations formed the basis for the Trump space policy, which resulted in a series of budget increases for NASA, a commitment to returning to the Moon and has been widely regarded as expansive.[27] [28] Following his service on the transition team, Autry temporarily served as the White House Liaison at NASA.[25]

President Trump nominated Dr. Autry to serve as the Chief Financial Officer at NASA on July 27, 2020.

On December 2, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee voted 14-12 on party lines to forward his nomination to the full Senate.[29] It is uncertain if the Senate will find time in the schedule for several 2020 nominees, including Autry, as their current focus is on bills which include the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act and finalizing a 2021 omnibus spending bill.[30] On January 3, 2021, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.[31]

Autry serves as an advisor to Relativity Space, a startup rocket manufacturer using additive manufacturing (3D printing) that raised over $175 million. Autry has advised Relativity’s founders since their time as students at USC.[32] He also serves on the board of Interstellar Labs.[2] He served on the board of the National Space Society from 2018 to 2020 and continues to serve as Vice President for Space Development.[2]

Autry was appointed to the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee in 2018. The COMSTAC advises the Office of Commercial Space Transportation at the Federal Aviation Administration in the US Department of Transportation on matters effecting the space transportation industry. Autry was reappointed to the committee in 2020 and appointed as Chair of the Safety Working Group.[2][1]