Comment from ROICE Program Collaborative, University of Houston
ROICE Program Collaborative, University of HoustonSupportAcademic
Summary: Dr. Ram Seetharam, representing the ROICE Program Collaborative at the University of Houston, supports the exploration of repurposing offshore oil and gas infrastructure for space launch and reentry. The commenter provides technical, regulatory, and commercial frameworks to assist BOEM in evaluating feasibility, identifying suitable platforms, and addressing decommissioning liabilities.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this unique and ground-breaking concept of using existing and new infrastructure in the OCS for space launch and reentry activities. The ROICE program at the University of Houston and its industry/academic advisory group, the ROICE Program Collaborative (RPC) have been active since 2022 in developing a framework for repurposing offshore infrastructure for alternate uses. From that perspective, the RPC has put together the attached detailed response to the RFI. We remain available to discuss these comments in detail at the appropriate time. Thank you once again,
- Dr. Ram Seetharam, ROICE Program Executive Director, University of Houston