China’s three-man Shenzhou-15 crew landed today after six months in space. Last November they replaced the Shenzhou- 14 crew, the first handover of operations from one crew to another in China’s history, and now they have been replaced by Shenzhou-16. China has reached this stage in its human spaceflight program decades after first the Soviet Union and then the International Space Station partnership demonstrated this capability, but is a milestone for  China nonetheless.

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Despite concerns that it might take as long as a week, the Senate tonight quickly passed the bill suspending the debt limit and imposing budget caps to reduce the deficit. The vote was 63-36.

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Boeing and NASA said today the Crew Flight Test of Boeing’s Starliner commercial crew transportation system, scheduled for July 21, is delayed indefnitely. Two new problems were just discovered and a new date cannot be set until they determine exactly what needs to be done and implement the fixes. Boeing is under a fixed price contract and will have to absorb any additional costs. Just last week, NASA’s panel of outside safety advisors recommended an independent review of the Starliner program, but NASA has not agreed to create one.

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After weeks of negotiations and harsh criticism from politicians on the right and left, the House passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 on a bipartisan basis late last evening. The bill suspends the debt limit until after next year’s elections, a Democratic priority, and sets budget caps that will require substantial cuts to future government spending, a Republican priority. Spending for defense and veterans medical care are exempt. The impact on specific non-defense agencies like NASA will be determined later by congressional appropriators. The Senate will vote on the bill in coming days.

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The second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station is back on Earth safe and sound. The four-person Axiom-2 multinational crew splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico after 10 days in space, eight of which were aboard the ISS. Axiom Space not only is organizing private astronaut flights to ISS, but building modules that will initially attach to ISS and eventually separate and become a free-flying commercial space station to succeed ISS.

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China launched a new crew to the Tiangong-3 space station this evening. The Shenzhou-16 crew will replace their Shenzhou-15 colleagues who are completing a 6-month mission. This is only the second time China has conducted a handover of operations from one crew to another as it begins long-term operations in Earth orbit. China is also talking about sending taikonauts to the Moon and yesterday projected 2030 for the first lunar crew. That is several years earlier than previously discussed.

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Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com during the week of May 22-28, 2023, including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of May 28-June 3, 2023 and any insight we can offer about them. The Senate will be in session this week beginning Tuesday. The House schedule is in flux.

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One day after NASA’s safety advisory panel urged an independent review before launching Boeing’s Starliner commercial crew vehicle with astronauts aboard, the agency issued an assurance that it will launch only when ready. Crew safety is the highest priority and schedule adjustments will be made if needed, NASA said, but stopped short of agreeing to the panel’s recommendation.

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The Japanese company ispace released its analysis today of why the Hakuto-R M1 lunar lander crashed on the lunar surface. In short, a software error told the lander’s automated systems that it was on the surface when in fact it was still at 5 kilometers altitude. Company officials said they will use this as a learning experience as they move forward with the next two scheduled missions in 2024 and 2025.

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