The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously today to open a new proceeding called Space Innovation to assess what it could and should be doing in regulating new areas of commercial space activity. A Notice of Inquiry on the nascent In-Space Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing industry is its first step, but there is more to come.
The sixth and final Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous satellite, SBIRS GEO-6, is in orbit today, 11 years after the first was launched. Coupled with SBIRS satellites in other orbits, the system allows the United States to detect and track missile launches and other thermal events anywhere in the world, a critical capability. The Space Force is already working on its successor, Next Generation Overhead Persistent InfraRed or Next-Gen OPIR, hopefully avoiding the cost overruns and schedule delays that plagued SBIRS over the past 26 years since its inception.
Officials from NASA and Roscosmos projected an air of camaraderie today as the first Russian cosmonaut prepares to fly on the next Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station. Russians routinely flew on the U.S. space shuttle, but this is the first time on the newest U.S. crew space transportation system and comes amidst a tense geopolitical climate because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine plus new leadership at Russia’s space agency.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of July 31-August 6, 2022 and any insight we can offer about them. The Senate is in session this week. The House has begun its summer recess and is not scheduled to return for legislative business until mid-September, but that could change.
China’s Long March-5B rocket made an uncontrolled reentry this afternoon EDT over the Indian Ocean near Borneo and the Philippines. Videos posted to Twitter by residents in the area are widely accepted, though not confirmed, as showing it breaking apart as it plummets through the atmosphere. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson criticized China for not sharing trajectory data during the reentry.
The new head of Russia’s space agency, Yuri Borisov, clarified Russia’s space station plans today in an interview with Russian television. Russia is not planning to suddenly leave the International Space Station partnership in 2024 as some media reports said earlier this week, but is assessing how much longer the Russian modules can last and preparing for what comes next. He reiterated that Russia will fulfill its commitment to the other ISS partners and provide the required one-year’s notice when the time comes.
The Senate Appropriations Committee released the “chairman’s mark” for all 12 FY2023 appropriations bills today. The committee approved NASA’s full request, $25.974 billion, although it made some changes to how that funding is allocated. Negotiations can now commence with the House Appropriations Committee, which approved half a billion dollars less than the request.
The House passed the first NASA authorization bill in five years today. It is part of a bill that has strong support by President Biden, the CHIPS and Science Act, and he could sign it by the end of the week. A policy bill, it does not provide any funding for NASA or even recommendations for funding, but lays out bipartisan and bicameral support for NASA’s human spaceflight, science, technology, and aeronautics programs. Among the highlights are extending the U.S. commitment to the International Space Station through 2030, enthusiasm for returning astronauts to the Moon and going on to Mars, and launching a space telescope dedicated to finding asteroids that might threaten Earth.
NASA and ESA announced a major change of plans today for the Mars Sample Return campaign. The two agencies will still work together to return the samples now being collected by NASA’s Perseverance rover, but Perseverance itself will transport the samples to their departure point for the trip back to Earth instead of an ESA rover. Not only that, but NASA will send two more helicopters to Mars to provide a backup method for retrieving the samples in case something goes awry with Perseverance. ESA still is providing the spacecraft to make the trip back to Earth and a robotic transfer arm. …
Boeing revealed today that it is taking another charge against earnings for its Starliner commercial crew program for taking NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Starliner is a Public-Private Partnership with NASA through a fixed price contract, so Boeing must absorb any cost increases due to technical problems and resulting delays. Starliner’s Orbital Flight Test-2 succeeded in May, but it was far behind schedule. …