What’s Happening in Space Policy October 4-10, 2026

Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of October 4-10, 2026 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess until after the midterm elections, except for pro forma sessions.

During the Week

Today (Sunday) is the 69th anniversary of the beginning of the Space Age.  On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite — the “beep heard ’round the world.” The NASA history website has a clip of that beep and the image below showing a replica of the 83.6 kg (183.9 pound) satellite at the National Air and Space Museum. The website also has a brief summary of the years leading up to the launch and how the International Geophysical Year (IGY) fit in.

The United States and Soviet Union worked together with other countries through the United Nations over the next 10 years to develop the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies — the 1967 Outer Space Treaty — that went into force on October 10, 1967.

In 1999, the United Nations declared October 4-10 as World Space Week with celebratory events around the globe. Among them this year is the annual International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Antalya, Türkiye. The theme is “The World Needs More Space.”  IAC is a premier international space conference and the heads of global space agencies typically participate in the opening plenaries. Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson will be there on behalf of NASA. It’s primarily an in-person meeting, but the IAC will livestream some sessions on its YouTube channel, though the 7-hour time zone difference will be a challenge for those in the U.S.  NASA put out a list of key agency events, but it’s not clear which will be livestreamed by the IAC and it doesn’t seem NASA will be providing any. Anderson participates in a “one-on-one” discussion during a session that begins at 3:00 am ET tomorrow (Monday). ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher speaks during that same time period and his remarks will air on ESA TV.

Meanwhile, up at the International Space Station, Crew-12 is getting ready to come home later this week. Crew-12 commander Jessica Meir has been serving as ISS Commander since July 25. She turned the reins over to Roscosmos’s Soyuz MS-29 commander Pyotr Dubrov this morning, with all 11 people now onboard embracing in what they call a huggle — a combination of a hug and huddle.

Crew-12 (Meir, Hathaway, Adenot, Fedyaev) will undock very early Wednesday morning EDT and splashdown on Thursday just before noon EDT, leaving Soyuz MS-29 (Dubrov, Kikina, Menon) and Crew-13 (Watkins, Delaney, Kutryk, Teteryatnikov) to carry on.

Among the other interesting events this week is a Lunar Surface Science Workshop (LSSW) where NASA will release all the lunar science data from April’s Artemis II mission.  In another tribute to history, the event takes place on October 7, “67 years to the day after humans saw images of the Moon’s far side for the first time” from the Soviet Union’s Luna 3. The virtual meeting starts at 11:00 am EDT with Kelsey Young, the familiar face of Artemis II science at Mission Control during the flight. She’s Artemis II Lunar Science Lead and Senior Flight Controller at NASA Goddard. Looks interesting!

The House and Senate are out, returning after the November 3 midterm elections. Although they did pass a number of bills by unanimous consent last week, none were space-related that we saw. Whatever space-related legislation may clear the 119th Congress must wait until the lame-duck session. Appropriations bills (the CR runs out on December 11), the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a new NASA authorization act, and a commercial space act are among those waiting. As of now, both chambers will return on November 9 and expect to adjourn on December 17th (House) and 18th (Senate). That could change. They actually have until the moment before noon on January 3, 2027 when the 120th Congress begins.

Lots of other great events this week including a lecture on “Rotorcraft–the New Frontier in Extraplanetary Exploration” by Marilyn J. Smith. The recipient of the 2026 AIAA/National Academy of Engineering Yvonne C. Brill Lectureship in Aerospace Engineering, Smith directs the Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence at Georgia Tech, which was instrumental in the Mars Ingenuity helicopter’s success and is now working on the Dragonfly octocopter mission to Saturn’s moon Titan. The lecture is in-person in D.C. and online.

Those and other events we know about as of October 4 are shown below. Check back throughout the week for others we learn about later and add to our Calendar or changes to these.

Sunday, October 4

• 3rd GSA International Spaceport Forum, Antalya, Türkiye
• ISS Change of Command Ceremony, Earth orbit, 10:20 am ET

Sunday-Saturday, October 4-10

• World Space Week, global

Monday, October 5

• Public Lecture by Marilyn Smith on “Rotorcraft–the New Frontier in Extraplanetary Exploration” (AIAA/NAE Yvonne C. Brill Lectureship in Aerospace Engineering), Keck Center, 500 5th St, NW, Washington, DC/online, 1:00-2:15 pm ET

Monday-Wednesday, October 5-7

• SATEXPO 2026, Dubai

Monday-Friday, October 5-9

• International Astronautical Congress 2026 (IAC 2026), Antalya, Türkiye (portions livestreamed)

Tuesday-Thursday, October 6-8

• Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences (Natl Acad), Irvine, CA

Wednesday, October 7

• Crew-12 Undocks from ISS, 1:05 am ET (NASA coverage TBA)
• LSSW Release of Lunar Farside Data from Artemis II, virtual, 11:00 am-3:45 pm ET

Thursday, October 8

• How the Rocket Revolution is Transforming the Satellite Ecosystem (GSOA), virtual, 10:00 am ET
• Crew-12 Splashdown off the coast of California, 11:25 am ET (NASA coverage TBA)

Thursday-Friday, October 8-9

• Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG), Boulder, CO/online
• ASTRA Workshop (Embry-Riddle), Daytona Beach, FL