NASA and Boeing officials said today they are targeting May 1 for the launch of the Crew Flight Test of Boeing’s Starliner commercial crew spacecraft. If successful, the long-awaited flight could usher in an era where NASA has more than one domestic option to ferry crews to and from the International Space Station, what it calls “dissimilar redundancy.”
The fate of NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission dominated today’s hearing before a House Science, Space, and Technology subcommittee on NASA’s science program. While committee members were supportive of the effort to bring samples of Mars back to Earth, they also were cautious about ensuring the program does not experience the huge overruns and schedule delays of past programs like the James Webb Space Telescope.
Congress and the White House have finally agreed on funding for the last set of FY2024 appropriations bills, which includes DOD. The U.S. Space Force did not get all of the almost $4 billion increase requested for FY2024, but fared pretty well all things considered. Congress is now racing against the clock to pass the “minibus” of six bills before midnight tomorrow when the Continuing Resolution expires. …
Russia’s launch of a three-person crew to the International Space Station aborted 20 seconds before liftoff this morning. While last-minute launch aborts are not uncommon with U.S. rockets, they are extremely rare with Russia’s systems. The three crew members — a Russian, an American, and a Belarussian spaceflight participant — are safe and Roscosmos is assessing when to try again. The next opportunity is Saturday, March 23, at 8:36 am ET
China launched a second satellite today that will orbit the Moon to enable communications with lunar landers on the farside, which always points away from Earth. Queqiao-2, or Magpie Bridge-2, will replace the existing Queqiao-1 and serve as a relay for China’s current farside lander, Chang’e-4, and at least three more planned over the next five years.
One of the most renowned astronauts of the Apollo era, Lt. Gen. Thomas Stafford (USAF), died today at 93. Stafford made four spaceflights, but is probably best remembered for his last — the internationally groundbreaking Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. Stafford remained involved in the space program long after his retirement from NASA and the Air Force, playing key roles in President George H. W. Bush’s Moon-to-Mars effort and continuing to serve as a vital link between the U.S. and Russian programs.
Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com over the last week, March 11-17, 2024, including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of March 17-23, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
SpaceX is still collecting and analyzing data from the third Starship test flight, but it is clear it scored many successes. They may have lost Starship over the Indian Ocean, but the vehicle made it almost three quarters of the way around the world. The Super Heavy first stage almost made it to a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico and various tests were conducted as Starship flew through the atmosphere including a propellant transfer and opening and closing the payload door. For most of the ride, SpaceX broadcast spectacular images of Starship in flight that were sent back through ground stations as well as satellites, including Starlink.
Nicky Fox, the head of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, again urged the NASA science community to stick together in these tough budget times and not split into factions fighting each other. After years of steadily increasing budgets and projections maintaining that growth rate, SMD is suddenly facing a future with about $1 billion less each year. While it still will have $7.5 billion or more, tough choices will have to be made about projects still in the planning stages like Mars Sample Return.