Category: Commercial

Mike Griffin New Chairman and CEO of Schafer Corporation

Mike Griffin New Chairman and CEO of Schafer Corporation

By Marcia Smith | Posted: August 25, 2012 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: August 25, 2012 3:04 pm ET

The Schafer Corporation announced on August 14 that Michael Griffin is its new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). 

Griffin was the Administrator of NASA during President George W. Bush’s second term and most recently was a professor at the University of Alabama at Huntsville.  He also is the President of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the first to be elected for a two-year term.

He is identified as a member of presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s space policy advisory group on a Romney website.

In its press release, Schafer describes itself as a “leading provider of scientific, engineering and technical services and products applied to defeating national security threats.”   Griffin has often described his career as having been spent about 50-50 in the civil and national security space arenas.  Schafer Corporation has nine offices nationwide, including Arlington, VA; Huntsville, AL; Albuquerque, NM;  St. Louis, MO; Dayton, OH; as well as in Massachusetts, Hawaii and California.

Last Updated: Aug 25, 2012 3:04 pm ET
Code of Conduct is Like "Sarlacc Pit" Says Peter Marquez

Code of Conduct is Like "Sarlacc Pit" Says Peter Marquez

By Laura Delgado | Posted: August 22, 2012 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: July 27, 2017 8:54 am ET

During a panel discussion on defense and industry perspectives on international space security and sustainability measures on Tuesday, Peter Marquez, former White House director of space policy in both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, said that the proposed Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities (CoC) evokes the definition of a “sarlacc,” a fictional creature from the Star Wars movies. Marquez quoted another Star Wars character, C-3PO, as saying that in the sarlacc’s Great Pit of Carkoon “you will find a new definition of pain and suffering as you are slowly digested over a thousand years.”

Marquez, now vice president of strategy and planning at Orbital Sciences Corporation, said that while the CoC may have good principles, it is already in the middle of a process with no daylight at the end of it. He cautioned against taking solely normative measures to advance space sustainability and security when these are not matched with intelligence and economic measures. Without investing in capabilities to make space secure, he said, normative security is a “space utopia.”

Marquez added that defining red lines without capabilities is “nothing but dangerous” and said that leadership is needed in this area. Referencing criticisms made about the stance of the Bush Administration regarding space security measures, Marquez agreed that it had been “absent from the international community.”  Yet he thinks that the Obama Administration’s change in tone is also insufficient; “saying yes to everything isn’t really leadership either.” “Change is easy, leadership is hard,” he said and added that Congress should also be advancing this issue.

Panelists from the Department of Defense (DoD), the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and the Satellite Industry Association (SIA), joined Marquez in the panel discussion, which was hosted by the Secure World Foundation and the Space Foundation.

Industry representatives emphasized the role of their community in engaging and providing input in the development of these measures, which they said directly impact their activities. In particular, they mentioned ITAR reform as a priority. ITAR stands for the International Traffic in Arms Regulation that implement the Arms Export Control Act. Currently, satellites and related technologies are governed by the DoD’s “munitions list” under ITAR and its strict export control rules. Many industry advocates have called for ITAR reform, which they believe has negatively impacted U.S. competitiveness in the space sector.

Sam Black, SIA director of policy described ITAR reform as the “single most important way of boosting international cooperation.” While Black said he remained hopeful that progress could be made in the next few years, AIA Vice President for Space Systems Frank Slazer was more optimistic.  He expects that work  on ITAR reform could be done before the end of the year. The “circumstances have changed,” he explained — “the market has changed as well as the policies.”

Last Updated: Jul 27, 2017 8:54 am ET
Events of Interest: Weeks of August 20-31, 2012-UPDATE 2

Events of Interest: Weeks of August 20-31, 2012-UPDATE 2

By Marcia Smith | Posted: August 19, 2012 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: August 21, 2012 12:59 pm ET

UPDATE 2:  NASA has rescheduled the Mars Curisoity update that was to be on August 23 to a day earlier, August 22, at 11:30 am PT (2:30 pm ET) and it will be televised on NASA TV rather than audio only.

UPDATE:  NASA’s two newly scheduled media teleconferences on the Mars Curiosity rover August 21 and August 23 have been added.

Once again we are doubling up on our “weeks” of interest since everything has slowed down this month.  This list covers the weeks of August 20 and August 27, 2012. 

Congress continues to be in recess, awaiting the Republican (August 27-30 in Tampa, FL) and Democratic (September 4-6 in Charlotte, North Carolina) presidential conventions.  Elsewhere….

Tuesday, August 21

Wednesday, August 22

Tuesday, August 28

 

Last Updated: Aug 21, 2012 12:59 pm ET
Romney Veep Choice Paul Ryan Voted Against Last Two NASA Authorization Bills

Romney Veep Choice Paul Ryan Voted Against Last Two NASA Authorization Bills

By Marcia Smith | Posted: August 11, 2012 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: August 11, 2012 11:21 pm ET

Presumptive Republican presidental candidate Mitt Romney picked Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as his Vice Presidential running mate today.   Although voting records tell an incomplete tale, Ryan did vote against both the 2008 and 2010 NASA Authorization Acts.

Ryan became a Member of the House in 1999 at the age of 28.   Five major pieces of legislation specifically affecting civil and commercial space policy have passed since then.  Four were NASA authorization acts (2000, 2005, 2008 and 2010) and one was the Commercial Space Launch Act amendments in 2004 that set up the current regulatory framework for commercial human spaceflight.

Ryan voted aye on the 2000 NASA Authorization Act (P.L. 106-391) when it passed the House in his first months in office in 1999 during a period when the House was under Republican control.  The bill passed 259-168.

There was no recorded vote on the 2005 NASA authorization bill (P. L. 109-155).  This bill generally endorsed President Bush’s Vision for Space Exploration at a time when the House and Senate were under Republican control.

The 2008 NASA authorization bill (P.L. 110-422) was similar to the 2005 bill, but passed when the House and Senate were under Democratic control.   It passed 409-15 and Ryan was one of the 15 who voted against it.

The 2010 NASA authorization bill (P.L. 111-267) also passed under Democratic control, but by a smaller margin, 304-118.   The bill was quite controversial in the House and opposition to its passage was led by the Democratic chairwoman of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), wife of then-NASA astronaut Mark Kelly.  She and Ryan were among the 118 House members who voted nay.

As for the 2004 Commercial Space Launch Act Amendments (P.L. 105-492), which passed under Republican control, Ryan voted aye.  The bill passed 264-120.

Overall, this voting record may say more about his preference to vote with the Republican leadership than about his opinions on the space program, although the 2008 vote, where he was one of only 15 nay votes, might suggest a policy clash.  He apparently did not speak on the bill during floor debate based on a quick examination of the Congressional Record.

Today, Ryan is chairman of the House Budget Committee and determined to reduce the deficit.  The House adopted his budget plan earlier this year.  As reported by SpacePolicyOnline.com in March. his budget would cut more from the budget functions that include NASA and NOAA than President Obama’s FY2013 budget request, but that does not necessarily mean it would cut more from NASA or NOAA.  The budget functions group together a number of agencies or parts of agencies, so it is not possible to determine from that budget what amounts would be provided to any of them specifically.   That would be determined later through appropriations committee action.

Last Updated: Aug 11, 2012 11:21 pm ET
Russian Prime Minister to Convene Meeting on "Crisis" in Space Industry Next Week

Russian Prime Minister to Convene Meeting on "Crisis" in Space Industry Next Week

By Marcia Smith | Posted: August 8, 2012 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: August 8, 2012 2:01 pm ET

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will convene a meeting next week to discuss the “crisis” in the Russian space industry following Monday’s Proton rocket failure according to Russia’s Itar-Tass news service. 

Itar-Tass calls the current situation a “deep crisis,” estimating that the failure of the Proton’s Briz upper stage represents a loss of 6-8 billion rubles.  The Proton-Briz vehicle was intended to place two satellites into geostationary orbit: Indonesia’s Telkom-3 and Russia’s Ekspress-MD2.  The latter was built by Russia’s Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, which also builds the Proton rocket and Briz upper stage.  “However, Russia is losing not only money, but also the reputation of the country,” Itar-Tass lamented.

Russia was the leading global commercial launch provider last year, with 56 percent of the market according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation.  Europe was second with 22 percent.  The United States had no commercial launches in 2011.

Russia’s RIA Novosti reports that the satellites were insured by Russian Ingosstrakh and Alfa Strakhovanie:  1.17 billion rubles for Ekspress-MD2 and 225 million rubles for Telkom 3.  (1 ruble = 0.03 $US)

Russian Proton rocket with Briz upper stage.

Photo credit: Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center via RIA Novosti.

Russia’s typically reliable launch vehicle fleet has experienced an unusual number of failures since December 2010 when another Proton launch failure doomed three Russian GLONASS navigation satellites.  Five more failures of various rockets followed in 2011 — including the Proton launch of another Ekspress satellite almost exactly a year ago — sparking personnel changes at Russia’s Roscosmos space agency and elsewhere in the space industry.  Roscosmos Director Anatoly Perminov was one of those fired.  His replacement, Vladimir Popovkin, was assigned to fix what was wrong, but spent most of the year dealing with more and more failures including the very high profile Phobos-Grunt loss in November.   A December 2011 failure was the last straw for the top levels of the Russian government and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin was appointed to investigate the industry and come up with solutions.

Popovkin has held on to his job so far, but it appears that changes he instituted to avoid launch failures have not worked.  Itar-Tass cites Rogozin as saying that Medvedev will convene a special meeting next week “at which the current tense situation in the Russian space industry will be discussed in detail.”  Rumors are that the jobs of Khrunichev’s leadership may not be safe either.  Russian analysts quoted by Itar-Tass point out, however, that it simply is not possible to rectify longstanding problems in the space industry in just a few months.

Proton launches have been suspended while the root causes of the failure are determined.  Historically, such stand-downs are not long lasting.   Russianspaceweb.com cites Roscosmos as reporting that the upper stage engine operated for only seven seconds instead of 18 minutes 4 seconds as planned.

 

Last Updated: Aug 08, 2012 2:01 pm ET
Russia Suffers Another Proton Launch Failure

Russia Suffers Another Proton Launch Failure

By Marcia Smith | Posted: August 7, 2012 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: August 7, 2012 11:21 am ET

Russia has suffered another failure of its Proton rocket system.   Early reports indicate that the Briz upper stage malfunctioned.

The launch yesterday was intended to place Indonesia’s Telkom-3 and Russia’s Ekspress-MD2 communications satellites into geostationary orbit.  More details to come when available.  Anatoly Zak at Russianspaceweb.com explains what is known at the moment.

Last Updated: Aug 07, 2012 11:21 am ET
Events of Interest: Weeks of August 5-18, 2012-UPDATE

Events of Interest: Weeks of August 5-18, 2012-UPDATE

By Marcia Smith | Posted: August 4, 2012 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: August 5, 2012 11:06 pm ET

UPDATE:  NASA’s industry forum on the commercial crew program on Wednesday, August 8, has been added.

August is a slow month for space policy events — and most other things — so we are grouping two weeks together into this one article.   Congress is in recess until September 10 — after the Republican and Democratic conventions.

During the Weeks

The landing of NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover on Mars Sunday night, August 5, at 10:31 pm PDT  (Monday morning, August 6, 1:31 am EDT) is certainly the highlight.   Everyone will have fingers crossed that it lands successfully, but one way or the other, it seems destined to be the top space news story.    SpacePolicyOnline.com will be reporting on the landing — follow us on Twitter @SpcPlcyOnline.  The Mars Society and the Planetary Society are having events in Pasadena that coincide with the landing.  The Mars Society event actually began yesterday (Friday, August 3) and the Planetary Society’s begins today.

Sunday, August 5

Wednesday, August 8

Monday-Thursday, August 13-16

Tuesday, August 14

Tuesday-Wednesday, August 14-15

 

Editor’s note:   Your SpacePolicyOnline.com editor was looking forward to be at JPL for the landing, but has been sidetracked by the flu.  The relevent sentence in this article has been modified accordingly, but please do still follow us on Twitter as we report from Washington instead of Pasadena.

 

Last Updated: Aug 05, 2012 11:06 pm ET
NASA To Hold Commercial Crew Program Forum at KSC on August 8

NASA To Hold Commercial Crew Program Forum at KSC on August 8

By Marcia Smith | Posted: August 4, 2012 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: August 4, 2012 6:49 pm ET

As announced on Friday by NASA officials as they revealed the winners of the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCAP) awards, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will hold an industry forum on August 8, 2012 at KSC to provide an update on NASA’s plans.

KSC’s procurement office released the details yesterday.  The forum will be from 1:00-2:00 pm ET at the KSC press site and will be webcast and available via teleconference.   Details are in NASA/KSC’s announcement.  Topics will be:

• An update from Program Forum held February 7, 2012

• Overview of Commercial Crew Certification Strategy

• Commercial Crew Program’s (CCP) intentions for future procurement opportunities

– Two Phase Acquisition Approach for Certification

– Phase 1 – Certification Products Contract (CPC) Procurement Summary

• Short clarification question and answer session

The webcast will be at http://commercialcrew.nasa.gov.  The telecon is accessible by calling 1-888-397-7821 and entering passcode 3180825.

Last Updated: Aug 04, 2012 6:49 pm ET
Senate Appropriators Reveal EELV Contract Savings, Reduce Budget Commensurately

Senate Appropriators Reveal EELV Contract Savings, Reduce Budget Commensurately

By Marcia Smith | Posted: August 4, 2012 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: August 4, 2012 1:10 pm ET

The full Senate Appropriations Committee reported out the FY2013 defense appropriations bill on Thursday.  The committee’s report reveals that the Department of Defense (DOD) negotiated significant savings in its launch vehicle program in FY2012.  The committee cut FY2013 funding for that program commensurately.

The defense subcommittee marked up the bill on Tuesday and a committee press release that day highlighted the restoration of funds for the Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) program and the Space Test Program (STP).   The press release said the committee added $100 million for ORS, but its report (S. Rept. 112-196), released two days later, shows that the committee augmented that amount by $10 million that was transferred in bits and pieces from five other space programs.   The total for ORS therefore is $110 million.  No funding was requested.

The committee offered no explanation, stating only that it “reverses the Air Force’s request” to terminate ORS as well as STP.  The committee added $35 million for STP, for a new total of $45 million. The committee’s action is in line with recommendations from DOD’s House and Senate authorizing committees, but the House Appropriations Committee did not recommend any increase for either program.

Separately, the committee’s report reveals that DOD and the United Launch Alliance (ULA), which builds and launches the Atlas V and Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELVs), identified $219 million in “efficiencies” for the current fiscal year, FY2012, and the Air Force reinvested those funds by purchasing an additional Delta IV launch that was not included in the FY2012 budget request.   The committee commended them, but added that “because the FY2013 budget could not anticipate the savings coming out of these negotiations, the funds requested in the fiscal year 2013 budget are in excess of what will be required.”  Thus, the committee reduced the FY2013 EELV request of $1.68 billion by $220 million, but said the amount still supports the request for four EELV launch services in FY2013.

The committee also split the EELV procurement account into two separate lines:  EELV Launch Services for the launches themselves and EELV Launch Infrastructure for the engineering workforce and infrastructure needed to support the launches.  The committee said it would “increase the budget visiblity of each program.”  The committee approved $805 million for EELV Launch Services and $654 million for EELV Launch Infrastructure.

The Air Force’s acquisition of EELVs has come under scrutiny in the past two years.  Its plans for a block buy of 40 EELV core vehicles over 5 years was criticized because it could freeze out “new entrants” like SpaceX, and because its assertions that a block buy was needed to provide stability to the industrial base was not premised on independent analysis.   The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently gave the Air Force mixed grades for how well it is complying with seven GAO recommendations on EELV acqusition.

The committee’s report expresses continuing concern about DOD’s acquisition of space launch services, strongly encouraging the department to ensure that new entrants can compete for DOD launches once they complete DOD’s certification process. 

The committee also wants DOD to report on its potential use of the Space Launch System under development by NASA. 

 

 

Last Updated: Aug 04, 2012 1:10 pm ET
Senate Intelligence Committee Supports New Launch Entrants, Some Concerned About Commercial Imagery

Senate Intelligence Committee Supports New Launch Entrants, Some Concerned About Commercial Imagery

By Marcia Smith | Posted: August 4, 2012 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: August 4, 2012 2:17 pm ET

The Senate Intelligence Committee is joining the chorus of congressional overseers of U.S. space launch policy and funding in emphasizing the need to let “new entrants” like SpaceX compete for Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office launches.   Some committee members also are unhappy with recent decisions about acquisition of commercial satellite imagery.

The committee released its report on the FY2013 intelligence authorization bill (S. Rept. 112-192) earlier this week.   It said it “believes it is in the nation’s economic and national security interests to promote competition among U.S. space launch providers, and to do so as soon as potential competitors are viable.”  In particular, it noted distinctions between the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA’s) Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program and SpaceX, which wants to compete with ULA for the military’s space launch business.

The committee commented that while SpaceX spent $1.2 billion since 2002 developing the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets, the Dragon capsule, plus associated infrastructure, by comparison the “current EELV launch capability contract totals approximately $1.2 billion per year just to maintain the infrastructure to launch an EELV.” Launch costs are extra, it added.   The committee acknowledged that “costs advertised by new space launch entrants may increase as those companies integrate rigorous Air Force processes” for ensuring mission assurance.  Nonetheless, it made clear its hope that competition will reduce costs while also maintaining “a strong and healthy industrial base.”

In the “additional views” section of the report, five of the 15 committee members — Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Mark Udall (D-CO),  and Bill Nelson (D-FL) — complained about recent decisions by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to reduce funding for the EnhancedView contract through which NGA purchases commercial satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe and GeoEye.   DigitalGlobe and GeoEye recently announced plans to merge after it became clear only one company could survive with the reduced government support.

The five Intelligence Committee members said the cuts were made “even before the completion of the Office of Management and Budget-ordered review to determine future needs” and were “in direct contravention of the President’s ‘Way-Ahead’ strategy,” as well the 2010 National Space Policy and the Commercial Remote Sensing Policy.  They added that they were disappointed that their committee did not address the issue in its bill, but hope it will be a matter for consideration during conference with the House.   They also support the Senate Armed Services Committee’s recommendation to add $125 million for commercial satellite imagery.

Senator Nelson had a separate “additional view” stating that the committee had adopted an amendment he offered by a vote of 15-0 that “relates to critical decisions regarding replenishment of our nation’s imagery architecture.  These decisions must not be rushed, and must be informed by a complete and comprehensive understanding of all available options.”  The amendment apparently was to the classified annex to the bill and is not discussed further in the unclassified report.

Last Updated: Aug 04, 2012 2:17 pm ET

SPACEPOLICYONLINE.COM

About | Contact | Privacy