Weather cooperated tonight and the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket sent the first 27 operational Project Kuiper satellites into orbit for Amazon. Similar to SpaceX’s Starlink system, Project Kuiper will grow into a constellation of more than 3,000 satellites to provide Internet broadband services via satellite around the globe.
After just coming back from seven months on the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Don Pettit insists there is no reason to “dump” it into the ocean in 2030. It has a lot of life left and with proper maintenance could last as long as the Air Force’s legendary B-52 airplanes. He also hopes for one or two more trips to space. At 70, he’s seven years younger than the current record-holder for orbital flight — John Glenn, who made his second spaceflight at the age of 77.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of April 27-May 3, 2025 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
Troy Meink, President Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of the Air Force, reportedly told the Senate Armed Services Committee that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sat in on his job interview with Trump. The revelation raises conflict of interest concerns since SpaceX has billions of dollars in contracts with the Department of the Air Force, which oversees the U.S. Space Force. It also resurfaces the question of whether Musk sat in on Trump’s interview with NASA Administrator-nominee Jared Isaacman. SpaceX is NASA’s second largest contractor. Isaacman has repeatedly declined to answer that question, but did tell the Senate Commerce Committee in response to post-hearing questions that he has terminated his contracts with SpaceX for two additional commercial spaceflights.
On the 35th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, President Trump issued a statement tonight promising America will lead the way in space discovery and exploration. His statement comes amid deep concern in the space community about the future of space science at NASA following a proposal from Trump’s Office of Management and Budget to cut space science by about 50 percent in FY2026.
The U.S.-Russian Joint Commission that advises NASA and Roscosmos on operations of the International Space Station is stressing the need for a planned, controlled deorbit of the ISS at the end of its lifetime. Both primary and backup deorbit capabilities must be in place before the two-and-a-half year orbit-lowering process begins. That would put the ISS into the Pacific Ocean at the end of 2030. They also want to ensure there is no gap between ISS and whatever replaces it to ensure research critical to supporting human missions to the Moon and Mars continues uninterrupted.
A crew of three Chinese taikonauts lifted off this morning to the Tiangong-3 space station. Shenzhou-20 will replace the Shenzhou-19 crew who have been aboard for the past six months. China began these routine crew rotations in 2022 following the example of the International Space Station that has hosted professional and commercial astronauts from many countries for more than 24 years. Only Chinese taikonauts have been aboard Tiangong-3 so far, but China is getting ready to change that.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of April 20-26, 2025 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess again this week, except for pro forma sessions, as part of their spring break.
NASA astronaut Don Pettit and two Russian crewmates landed in Kazakhstan this evening, April 19, which was April 20 local time at the landing site. The time zone difference is important because April 20 is Pettit’s 70th birthday. NASA’s oldest active astronaut, he spent 220 days aboard the International Space Station and now has accumulated 590 days in space over four flights. Pettit appeared weaker than his crewmates after he was extracted from the Soyuz capsule, but NASA reports he is “doing well and in the range of what is expected for him.” [Update, April 20: Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield posted a photo of Pettit on X showing him smiling and giving a thumbs up. See below.]
NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) said today the International Space Station has entered its “riskiest period” as the root cause of persistent air leaks in the Russian segment remains elusive. To assure there is no gap in the U.S. ability to conduct research in low Earth orbit, they stress NASA must move forward expeditiously to facilitate commercial space stations to replace the ISS by the end of this decade. They are upbeat about the Artemis lunar program, though, seeing “no showstoppers” for the Artemis II launch a year from now, although there is a lot of work to go for Artemis III.