NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope lifted off this morning on a mission to find more planets around other stars in the universe and solve the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter. After a three-month voyage to join the James Webb Space Telescope at the L2 Lagrange point, NASA expects to release the first images from Roman early next year.
President Trump signed an Executive Order today during a ceremony honoring the Artemis II crew that will create a NASA-led U.S. Space Academy to “encourage and guide” students to pursue cutting-edge technical fields to ensure American superiority in space. Trump said it will be equivalent to West Point, the Air Force Academy, the Naval Academy, and the Coast Guard Academy.
SpaceX announced plans today to build a second Starbase, this one on the coast of Louisiana. All Starship launches to date have been from Starbase, TX. They will soon begin lifting off from Kennedy Space Center, FL, but this new Starbase will be the biggest of them all to meet SpaceX’s goal of launching thousands of Starships a year from various sites. Construction of Starbase, LA begins next year with the first Starship launch as soon as 2029.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week plus a day of August 23-30, 2026 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess except for pro forma sessions. The House returns on August 31, the Senate on September 14 (after the Labor Day recess).
The White House released a new space transportation policy today, the first since 2013. The new policy has a strong emphasis on government support for the commercial space industry and space superiority, but what may get the most attention is the stated goal of 1,000 launches and reentries per year by 2030.
The Administration is requesting $71 billion for the U.S. Space Force in FY2027, more than twice what it has now. An analysis by the Aerospace Corporation concludes it is the highest proposed budget increase for any military service in 75 years. Congress still has to allocate the money, however, a combination of funding through the appropriations process plus a yet-to-be introduced reconciliation bill. Meanwhile, with FY2026 quickly coming to an end without congressional action on either appropriations or reconciliation, the Space Force could be constrained to a much lower level.
Katalyst Space and NASA concluded today that reboosting the Swift Observatory with Katalyst’s LINK spacecraft will not be possible due to attitude control problems. They still plan to conduct some rendezvous and proximity operations, but not to capture Swift to prevent it from reentering later this year.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the weeks of August 16-30, 2026 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess except for pro forma sessions. The House returns on August 31, the Senate on September 14 (after the Labor Day holiday).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed today that Ukrainian Flamingo missiles hit Russia’s Progress production facility in Samara. He cited the Progress Center’s role in producing electronics, but Soyuz rockets also are built there. Soyuz rockets launch crews and cargo to the International Space Station among other purposes.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said today he’s “extremely confident” Artemis III will launch next year to test rendezvous and docking operations between Orion and test versions of the two human lunar landing systems. A Wet Dress Rehearsal for Artemis III is planned for November, around the same time as a Max Power event at Kennedy Space Center that will highlight American aeronautics and space innovation.