What’s Happening in Space Policy July 5-18, 2026

What’s Happening in Space Policy July 5-18, 2026

By Marcia Smith | Posted: July 5, 2026 6:17 pm ET | Last Updated: July 5, 2026 9:09 pm ET

Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the TWO weeks of July 5-18, 2026 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess this week except for pro forma sessions.

During the Weeks

Easy to tell it’s summer!  Not only is this week really quiet on the space policy front, but so is next week. We’re combining them here. Perhaps more events will be announced in coming days.

But first, in case anyone missed President Trump’s speech very late last night on the National Mall in honor of America’s 250th birthday, not only were the four Artemis II astronauts on stage, but Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison “Jack” Schmitt. NASA’s Keegan Barber and Bill Ingalls took great photos and C-SPAN posted the clip on X.

President Donald Trump recognizes NASA Apollo astronaut Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, left, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist, right, during the “Salute to America” event, Saturday, July 4, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

Schmitt and Gene Cernan were the last two men to walk on the Moon. Cernan passed away in 2017. On December 14, 1972, as Apollo 17 commander, he climbed back into the lunar lander after Schmitt so was the last man on the Moon, not Schmitt as he was introduced last night. But Schmitt, now 91, was the first scientist on the Moon — the only one so far. He also was a Republican U.S. Senator representing New Mexico from 1977-1983. (Only four of the 12 astronauts who landed on the Moon beween 1969 and 1972 are still living. In addition to Schmitt, they are Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11; David Scott, Apollo 15; and Charlie Duke, Apollo 16.)

Trump praised Schmitt and the Artemis II crew and presented them with a flag that was just flown over the Capitol and that Trump said will “soon be planted” on the Moon. Then he added Mars will be next, continuing his embrace of that goal.

So then I assume you’re going to be heading to Mars. We’re going to be going to Mars very soon, and I think that’s something that we do have in mind. And we’re going to do the moon, and we’re going to go from there. We’re going to go to Mars, and we’re going to continue to be way ahead. — President Trump

He also gave a shoutout to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. Isaacman wasn’t on stage with them, but led the flight of NASA planes over the mall earlier in the day to open the airshow. He’s flown in many airshows, but this must have been extra special.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman leads a flyover featuring his personally owned F-5 Tiger during the Great American State Fair, Saturday, July 4, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

The U. S. Space Force also won praise. Trump was instrumental in creating the USSF during his first term.

You know, we did Space Force. That was something I was very proud of and some people smiled, they thought it was foolish. And now they’re finding it’s one of the most important things that we’ve done. We were losing to China and to Russia in space and now we’re leading them by giant steps and it’s a great thing. It’s people like that, really like you, that made it happen. Thank you very much. — President Trump

The entire speech is available on the White House website. Thunderstorms delayed the event until after 11:00 pm ET and he finished at 11:55 pm ET, followed by spectacular fireworks that ended this morning about 12:40 am ET.


The day-long event was a great celebration of our country’s 250th birthday and it was terrific to see space exploration included in the honors.

Meanwhile, out in space, JAXA’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft flew by the Torifune asteroid early this morning. Hayabusa2 returned samples from Ryugu in 2020 and the mother spacecraft continued on to this new assignment. JAXA has a nifty video explaining the mission and why this morning’s close approach was challenging. All appears to have gone according to plan.

As for upcoming events, we know of only six (other than rocket launches) for the next two weeks. Four are overseas and the other two are virtual.

They all look terrific, but we’ll highlight just one — the Soyuz MS-29 launch on July 14 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA’s Anil Menon will join Roscosmos’s Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina for an 8-month mission, the new standard for Soyuz crews. It’s the second flight for both Dubrov and Kikina and the first for Menon.

Soyuz MS-29 crew, L-R: Anil Menon (NASA), Pyotr Dubrov (Roscosmos) and Anna Kikina (Roscosmos). Photo credit: NASA & Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center

Dubrov and Kikina were selected together in the 2012 class of Russian cosmonauts. Dubrov spent 355 days on the ISS from April 2021 to March 2022 along with NASA’s Mark Vande Hei on an extended mission so Roscosmos could fly a Russian film crew on a 12-day “tourist” mission. Kikina was part of NASA’s Crew-5 mission from October 2022-March 2023.  She’s the only active Russian female cosmonaut.  (With rare exception, an American launches on every Soyuz mission, and a Russian on every NASA mission to the ISS, to ensure at least one person from each country is aboard to operate the interdependent Russian and American segments.)

Menon was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021. In February, Isaacman said he plans to be at the launch because “a good friend” will be on the mission.  That’s Menon, whose wife, Anna, flew to space with Isaacman on the Polaris Dawn mission when she was a SpaceX engineer. Last September she was selected as a NASA astronaut herself.  Isaacman will be the first NASA Administrator to attend a launch at Baikonur since Jim Bridenstine in 2018. Isaacman is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Bakanov, CEO of the Roscosmos State Space Corporation. Bakanov came to the U.S. for the Crew-11 launch a year ago this month and met with Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy. The U.S.-Russian ISS relationship has remained relatively steady despite the tense geopolitical situation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

As for Congress, the House and Senate are in recess, returning on July 13. The House left early last week when a small group of Republicans prevented floor action on the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and other legislation due to intra-party disagreements that are outside the remit of this website. Whether Speaker Mike Johnson can a find way forward before July 13 remains to be seen. The House is only scheduled to be in session for eight more days this month (July 13-16 and 20-23). Then they take their summer break, come back for most of September, then off for October as pre-election campaigning reaches its height. In total, they’ll be in session for only 24 days between now and the elections on November 3. Not much time to pass bills just on that side of Capitol Hill never mind through both chambers and signed by the President. Getting appropriations bills enacted is, of course, the most time-sensitive matter, with FY2026 ending on September 30 and the memories of last year’s 43-day shutdown far from forgotten.

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

Monday-Thursday, July 6-9 (Japan Standard Time)

Monday-Friday, July 6-10

Tuesday-Friday, July 7-10

Tuesday, July 14

Friday, July 17

 

Last Updated: Jul 05, 2026 9:09 pm ET

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