Space policy and food policy are connected, Secretary Vilsack said.
“We've heard a lot about the Landsat satellite,” he said during the council’s first meeting on Dec. 1. “But that imagery and location services is allowing American farmers to utilize climate smart agricultural practices, precision agriculture that will allow them to grow more with less land, less water, less inputs and obviously less greenhouse gas emissions.”
USDA and NASA have over 120 ongoing projects related to topics like water management, crop assessments, and carbon storage, Vilsack added.
In January of this year, the USDA and NASA signed a memorandum of understanding to share measurements of soil moisture and support research on the carbon cycle and growing fruits and vegetables for spaceflight.
Four additional members were added to the National Space Council.
They are the secretary of the interior (Deb Haaland), the secretary of labor (Marty Walsh), the secretary of education (Miguel Cardona) and Gina McCarthy, the national climate advisor.