Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for September 13, 2022: NASA science head Thomas Zurbuchen to depart, Astrobotic acquires Masten Space Systems, U.S. Space Force CSO nominee Saltzman warns on China. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
Japan and Germany are joining the U.S. pledge, announced in April, against conducting direct-ascent kinetic energy antisatellite tests that create orbital debris. Canada and New Zealand are the only other countries to adopt the ban so far, but the Biden Administration is working through the United Nations to convince others to sign on.
Four key Democratic and Republican Senators have introduced legislation to start ridding earth orbit of space debris. The Orbital Sustainability (ORBITS) Act calls on NASA to establish a program to demonstrate technologies for Active Debris Removal, authorizing $150 million over 5 years. The bill also requires various agencies to publish a list of the debris that poses the greatest threat, update orbital debris standards, and encourage development of practices for coordinating space traffic to avoid collisions that create even more debris.
The FAA said it will investigate the launch failure today of a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket. It was just the second launch failure in the company’s history and the first since 2015. The reusable rockets and capsules can carry either cargo or passengers. Although today’s flight carried only experiments, not people, the chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees commercial spaceflight said it’s a reminder of the risks involved and he will be keeping an eye on it as well.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of September 11-17, 2022 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
So much has been happening recently that it’s tough to keep up with all the news so we are resurrecting our “tidbits” feature to provide at least a glimpse, if not as much context as usual, into three important stories over the past few days: DOD and the Department of Commerce signed an agreement on Space Traffic Management, the National Academies reported on whether Ligado will interfere with DOD’s GPS system, and DOD issued a new space policy.
Vice President Kamala Harris chaired a second meeting of the White House National Space Council yesterday. As with the first meeting, STEM education was one of the three main topics. The other two were NASA’s human spaceflight program and creating regulations for novel commercial space activities. No major decisions were announced, but a White House framework for STEM education and space workforce development was released and several tasks were assigned to Council members.
At her second meeting of the White House National Space Council, Vice President Kamala Harris asked all Council members to submit proposals on how to regulate “novel” commercial space activities — those not already regulated. Last month Harris highlighted the need to create a clear, consistent, and flexible regulatory environment to attract investors and ensure U.S. leadership. The question of which agency should be in charge of overseeing these new types of space businesses has been debated for years without resolution. …
The FAA has appointed Kelvin Coleman as the new Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, succeeding Wayne Monteith. Coleman has a long history at the office, most recently serving as Acting Associate Administrator since Monteith’s departure in March.
NASA is targeting September 23 or September 27 for the next attempt to launch Artemis I, but those dates are quite tentative. Not only does NASA need to get a waiver from the U.S. Space Force to avoid replacing a critical battery for the Flight Termination System, but also must successfully test new seals being installed to fix the liquid hydrogen leak that scrubbed Saturday’s launch.