What’s Happening in Space Policy February 15-21, 2026

Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of February 15-21, 2026 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess except for pro forma sessions.

During the Week

Tomorrow (Monday) is a federal holiday and government offices will be closed. OPM still calls it Washington’s Birthday, but others refer to it as Presidents’ Day. George Washington’s actual birthday is February 22 and decades ago that was the holiday, but in the late 1960s the government moved some holidays to Mondays and now it’s the third Monday in February. That falls between Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on February 12 and Washington’s on the 22nd, hence Presidents’ Day. (Two other U.S. Presidents also have February birthdays: William Henry Harrison, February 9, and Ronald Reagan, February 6.)

It’s the beginning of a relatively quiet week. The House and Senate are in recess except for pro forma sessions. That’s typical for weeks with holidays in them although this time it’s a bit unusual because there’s a partial government shutdown. The one FY2026 appropriations bill that hasn’t passed yet is Homeland Security, which is especially controversial because it funds ICE. The topic is well outside the scope of this website and we mention it only for the sake of completeness.

We’ll be keeping an eye out for news about a second Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) for Artemis II. During a post-launch press conference following Friday morning’s Crew-12 launch, NASA Administrator Isaacman sounded optimistic about launching during the next window, which officially opens on March 6. [UPDATE, February 16: NASA has indeed announced a second WDR for this Thursday, February 19. See our Calendar entry for details.]

They’ve still got work to do on those liquid hydrogen leaks that ended the first WDR last month, though. They ran liquid hydrogen through the Space Launch System (SLS) tanks on Thursday to test new seals, but encountered a problem with a ground support system (apparently a filter) that reduced the flow of LH2.  NASA didn’t share much information until Friday evening. This weekend Isaacman responded on X to criticism of that and the leaks themselves in exchanges first with journalist Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) and then with X user @Yrouel86. The bottom line is that, as NASA often says, they won’t launch until they are ready, but they’re also not going to allow unnecessary delays “because we were unwilling to ruffle corporate feathers repairing a prop transfer interface.” He also said they’re going to make a lot of changes before the next flight, Artemis III: “I will say near-conclusively for Artemis III, we will cryoproof the vehicle before it gets to the pad, and the propellant loading interfaces we are troubleshooting will be redesigned.”

Speaking of Artemis, Connected DMV (DMV means DC-Maryland-Virginia in this context) wants to position the D.C. area “as a global hub for space-based enterprise and innovation,” especially Artemis. Wednesday-Friday it will hold “spaceNEXT” in Tysons Corner, VA just outside DC. They call it a “working session for the people building the infrastructure that makes sustained space operations economically viable.” Speakers include Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA);  NASA’s Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya, Director of Commercial Spaceflight Robyn Gatens, Chief Exploration Scientist Jacob Bleacher, and Wallops Flight Facility Director Dave Pierce; representatives from the embassies of Finland, India, Italy, Japan, and Sweden; and many more. Wednesday is “Mission Prep: Workshop Day,” Thursday is “Launch Window: Day One,” and Friday is “On Orbit: Day Two.” Thursday and Friday feature an expo as well.

Somewhat oddly, spaceNEXT’s banner displays the Space Shuttle, not Artemis, but perhaps it will serve as a reminder that the DMV does not want Discovery moved from the National Air and Space Museum to Houston. The event’s venue is just 18 miles from the NASM’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly where Discovery resides.

The 12th annual IAA Space Traffic conference is Wednesday-Thursday at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Current and past leaders of NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce, which is developing the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS), will be there: Mariel Borowitz, currently Director of International SSA Engagement; Kevin O’Connell, who headed OSC during the first Trump Administration (now with Space Economy Rising); and Diane Howard, who worked with O’Connell at OSC and later was Director of Commercial Space Policy for the National Space Council in the Biden Administration (now with sur l’espace PLLC). Darren McKnight from LeoLabs, Tahara Dawkins from Astroscale, and Aarti Holla-Maini from the U.N. Office of Outer Space Affairs are also among the list of distinguished speakers. There’s no indication of a virtual option unfortunately.

The Secure World Foundation has a space sustainability webinar on Wednesday morning showcasing the work of three SWF research fellows. Deborah Housen-Couriel will present her research on information sharing to promote the sustainability of outer space activities, and Beril Saadet Turnbull and Calum Turner will present their research on the circular space economy. Links to their reports are posted on SWF’s website.

On Thursday, Space News in cooperation with Leidos has a webinar on “New Approaches to Collapse Space Kill Chains.”  Tim Bode from Leidos, Lt. Col. Collin Greiser and Maj. Sean Allen from the U.S. Space Force, and Siamek Hesar from Kayhan Space will join Space News’s Mike Gruss “to explore how advanced sensors, analytics and workflow automation can deliver faster decision advantage and operational impact.”

Those and other events we know about as of Sunday morning are shown below. Check back throughout the week for others we learn about later and add to our Calendar or changes to these.

Monday, February 16

• Federal Holiday (Washington’s Birthday/Presidents’ Day)

Wednesday, February 18

• 2025 SSRI Fellows Reports (SWF), virtual, 10:00-11:30 am ET
• ISU-DC Space Café with JAXA Washington Office Deputy Director Kenta Tsuchiya, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC, 6:00-8:00 pm ET

Wednesday-Thursday, February 18-19

• 2026 Space Traffic Management Conference (IAA/UT Austin), Austin, TX

Wednesday-Friday, February 18-20

• spaceNEXT, Tysons, VA

Thursday, February 19

• UPDATE: Second Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal, KSC, simulated launch window opens 8:30 pm ET
• New Approaches to Collapse Space Kill Chains (Space News), virtual. 2:00-3:00 pm ET
• NSS Space Forum: Conversation with Tory Bruno (Natl Space Society), virtual, 9:00 pm ET

This article has been updated.