Kenneth Hodgkins was with the Department of State for over three decades, serving as the Director for the Office of Space and Advanced Technology in the Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science. The office is responsible for bilateral and multilateral cooperation in civil and commercial space and high technology activities, including the International Space Station, collaboration in global navigation satellite systems, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), and nanotechnology, and represents the Department in national space policy review and development. ​

​Hodgkins currently serves as the President of International Space Enterprises Consultants and the U.S. Representative to the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), as well as the Alternate Representative for the Committee’s Scientific and Technical and Legal Subcommittees since 1987. Hodgkins is the leading authoritative voice within the United States on the procedures and dynamics of the Committee and its sub-committees.​

​In 2010 and 2017, respectively, Hodgkins was the first and only Department of State recipient of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ International Cooperation Award and the American Astronautical Society’s award for Advancement of International Cooperation.  He was also named by GPS World as a “GNSS Leader to Watch in 2009-2010.” Hodgkins is a member elect of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL). Hodgkins was awarded by the University of Maine in May 2017 an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. In September of 2017, he was awarded by the IAA the Social Sciences Award for significant contributions to the advancement of astronautical sciences.