Joint Senate Commerce and SASC Hearing on RD-180 Engines and SpaceX Certification, July 16, 2014

A joint hearing was held on July 16, 2014 between the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC).  The hearing, Options for Assuring Domestic Space Access, was co-chaired by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) from Commerce and Sen, Mark Udall (D-CO) from SASC.  Two main themes were how to cope with the possibility that Russian RD-180 engines might no longer be available because of strained U.S.-Russian relationships over Ukraine and SpaceX’s effort to be certified by the Air Force to be awarded launch contracts.  Space PolicyOnline.com published a summary of the hearing on July 16.