Category: International

House Committee Questions U.S. Policy On Use of Indian Launch Vehicles

House Committee Questions U.S. Policy On Use of Indian Launch Vehicles

By Marcia Smith | Posted: July 6, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: July 6, 2016 9:08 pm ET

Two top Republicans on the House Science, Space, and Technology (SS&T) Committee sent letters to Obama Administration officials today seeking answers to a series of questions about U.S. policy on the use of Indian launch vehicles.  India’s Antrix corporation wants to offer launches to U.S. satellite operators, but there is concern that as a government entity, it would have an unfair advantage over U.S. commercial launch companies.

Several small U.S. satellites have been launched on Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLVs) in the last several months.  Four Spire Global Lemur-2 cubesats were launched in September 2015 and 12 Planet (formerly PlanetLabs) satellites on June 22, 2016.  PlanetIQ signed an agreement with Antrix in December 2015 to launch two of its 10-kilogram satellites on a PSLV in the fourth quarter of this year.

The FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) has been discussing the matter since last fall.   In October 2015, Samuel duPont from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), briefed COMSTAC on the issue. The committee’s International Space Policy Working Group (ISPWG) held teleconferences on the topic on December 10, 2015 and January 27, 2016.   According to an ISPWG outbrief at COMSTAC’s April 2016 meeting, the discussions led to two findings and a recommendation.  The findings were that India’s launch service pricing structure could not be confirmed as market-based and thus could “distort” competition and undermine U.S. policies and negatively impact the U.S. space industrial base.  It recommended that the U.S. government “maintain the current cautious approach in granting U.S. commercial satellite operators access to India’s state-owned and controlled launch providers.”

Eric Stallmer, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) industry association, told the SS&T Space Subcommittee in April that CSF opposes any effort “to facilitate a government-subsidized foreign launch company … to compete with U.S. companies.”  However, CSF also does not want to disadvantage U.S. satellite manufacturers and operators whose launch needs cannot be met by U.S. launch services companies, so if no U.S. launch vehicles are available, launching on Indian rockets should be approved on a case-by-case basis, he asserted.

Today’s letters from House SS&T Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Space Subcommittee Chairman Brian Babin (R-TX) seek to clarify exactly what U.S. policy is regarding launching U.S. satellites on Indian rockets.  The four letters are addressed to Secretary of State John Kerry, Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy John Holdren. 

Smith and Babin seek basic information about what the policy says, when it was promulgated, and the impact of India’s entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) on that policy.  Each official is asked to respond by July 20, 2016. 

India finally joined the MTCR less than two weeks ago on June 27.  The MTCR seeks to control the spread of ballistic missile technology.  Established in 1987 by the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and Japan, it now has 35 members, including Russia (but not China).  It is not a treaty and imposes no legal obligations, but is an “informal political understanding” according to its website.

U.S. efforts to convince Russia to join the MTCR after the collapse of the Soviet Union figured prominently in the relationship the two countries have today in the space arena.  It was one of the motivations in the Clinton-Gore Administration’s decisions to invite Russia to join the International Space Station (ISS) partnership and to allow U.S. satellites to be launched on Russian rockets.  In return, Russia had to join the MTCR and renegotiate a deal to sell cryogenic rocket engines and associated technological know-how to India. The United States did not object to selling the engines themselves, but to the technological know-how.  Russia renegotiated the contract and said that it lost $400 million as a result.  The United States agreed to pay Russia $400 million towards its participation in the ISS.

Last Updated: Jul 06, 2016 9:08 pm ET
Russia Launches New Version of Soyuz Spacecraft with Three ISS Crew – UPDATE

Russia Launches New Version of Soyuz Spacecraft with Three ISS Crew – UPDATE

By Marcia Smith | Posted: July 6, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: July 9, 2016 12:14 am ET

UPDATE, JULY 9, 2016, 12:15 AM EDT.  Docking was successful at 12:06 am EDT.

ORIGINAL STORY, JULY 6, 2016, 10:47 PM EDT:  Russia successfully launched a new version of its Soyuz spacecraft, Soyuz MS-01, at 9:36 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) tonight from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (7:36 am July 7 local time at the launch site).  Aboard are three new crew members for the International Space Station (ISS) — an American, a Japanese and a Russian.

Soyuz MS-01 is delivering NASA’s Kate Rubins, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) Takuya Onishi, and Russia’s Roscosmos space state corporation’s Anatoly Ivanishin to the ISS.  Because it is a new version of the spacecraft, the crew is taking the longer 34-orbit route to the ISS so the new systems can be tested out.  Docking is scheduled for 12:12 am Saturday morning.


Soyuz MS-01 on launch pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome just before liftoff on July 6, 2016 EDT.  Screenshot from NASA TV.

The first Soyuz spacecraft was launched in 1967.  It has been upgraded many times over the decades.  Although the outer shell remains basically the same, the interior and its systems have changed with advances in technology.  The most recent version was Soyuz TMA-M.  The last of that type, Soyuz TMA-20M, is currently docked to the ISS ready to return its three-man crew to Earth in September:  NASA’s Jeff Williams and Roscosmos’s Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin.

Soyuz MS incorporates a number of changes: upgraded fully redundant thrusters, improved shielding against micrometeoroid orbital debris (MMOD), improved solar arrays yielding increased electrical power, redundant electrical motors for the docking probe, upgraded Kurs docking system with a phased array antenna that does not need to be retracted, improved satellite navigation system, improved communications through Russia’s Luch satellites, and a new digital video transmitter and encoder to provide engineering video of the spacecraft’s approach to ISS for docking.

Rubins, Onishi and Ivanishin will remain aboard the ISS for four months, returning in October.


NASA’s Kate Rubins, Rocosmos’s Anatoly Ivanishin, JAXA’s Takuya Onishi at the Cosmonaut Hotel, Baikonur, Kazkahstan, June 30, 2016.  Credit: NASA/Alexander Vysotsky.

Rubins and Onishi are making their first spaceflights.  Rubins is a cancer biologist; Onishi is a former 767 airline pilot.  Ivanishin is a fighter pilot; this is his second spaceflight.

Last Updated: Jul 09, 2016 12:14 am ET
What's Happening in Space Policy July 4-9, 2016 – UPDATE

What's Happening in Space Policy July 4-9, 2016 – UPDATE

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 30, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: July 4, 2016 10:41 pm ET

This is our list of space policy events for the week of July 4-9, 2016 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House returns to work on July 5; the Senate on July 6.  [This posting was updated on July 4.]

During the Week

Monday, July 4, is a federal holiday and government offices officially are closed, but some folks at NASA surely will be on duty because the BIG EVENT for the coming week is the arrival of NASA’s Juno spacecraft at Jupiter that day.

Miles O’Brien explained in
a recent PBS Newshour segment what Juno will tell us about Jupiter that
the Galileo spacecraft didn’t (basically Galileo was looking at the
cloudtops outward while Juno will look under the clouds down through
Jupiter’s core).  NASA has held a number of pre-arrival briefings already. Another will be broadcast on NASA TV on Monday at noon ET with a mission update. 

NASA TV coverage of orbit insertion begins at 10:30 pm ET and a post-arrival briefing is scheduled for 1:00 am ET July 5. 

The spacecraft will fire its engine at 11:18 pm ET on July 4 for 35 minutes to enter Jupiter’s orbit, ending at 11:53 pm ET.  Everything is automated at this point — either the engine will work properly or it won’t.  The signal travel time from Jupiter to Earth is 48 minutes.  The times here are Earth-receive times accounting for the delay.

Closer to Earth, a new crew will launch to the International Space Station on Wednesday evening Eastern Daylight Time (Thursday GMT, Moscow Time, and local time at the launch site).  The three crew members — NASA’s Kate Rubins, JAXA’s Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos’s Anatoly Ivanishin — will be using an upgraded version of the Soyuz spacecraft, Soyuz MS-01.   Since it’s new, they will take the longer 2-day trajectory to the ISS to test everything out, docking early Saturday morning EDT.

Meanwhile, here on Earth, on Thursday, the Environment Subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on the nation’s current and next generation weather satellites.  It is a bit unusual in that it blends plans for civil and military weather satellites.  The witness list as of today includes two experts on NOAA’s weather satellite programs — Steve Volz, head of NOAA/NESDIS and the GAO expert who follows those civil weather satellite programs (David Powner), and two on DOD’s weather satellite program — Ralph Stoffler, Director of Weather in the office of the USAF Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and the GAO expert on military satellites (Cristina Chaplain).  Subcommittee chairman Jim Bridenstine (R-Oklahoma) serves on both this subcommittee and the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) which may explain the decision to hold a combined hearing on the weather satellite plans for both NOAA and DOD.  House SS&T typically webcasts its hearings on its website and YouTube.

The events we know about as of Monday, July 4, are listed below.  Check back throughout the week for additions to our Events of Interest list.

Monday-Tuesday, July 4-5 ET

  • Arrival of the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter (watch on NASA TV)
    • July 4, 12:00 pm ET, pre-orbit insertion briefing
    • July 4, 10:30 pm ET, orbit insertion and NASA commentary
    • July 5, 1:00 am ET, post-orbit insertion briefing

Wednesday, July 6

Thursday, July 7

Saturday, July 9

Note:  This article, orignally published June 30, 2016, was updated throughout on July 4, 2016.

Last Updated: Jul 04, 2016 10:41 pm ET
China Launches New Rocket from New Launch Site, New Space Station Next – UPDATE

China Launches New Rocket from New Launch Site, New Space Station Next – UPDATE

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 25, 2016 8:35 am ET | Last Updated: June 27, 2016 8:38 pm ET

China successfully conducted the first launch of its new mid-sized Long March 7 rocket from the new Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island today (June 25).   One of the payloads is a scale model of a new crew spacecraft which is expected to return to  Earth tomorrow.   [UPDATE: it landed at 07:41 GMT on June 26.] This is the beginning of a busy period for China that includes the launch of a new small space station and a crew later this year, plus the inaugural launch of its largest rocket, Long March 5.

The Long March 7 lifted off from Wenchang at 12:00 GMT June 25 (8:00 am Eastern Daylight Time; 8:00 pm local time at the launch site).

Long March 7 inaugural launch from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, June 25, 2016.  Photo Credit:  Xinhua/Li Gang.

Wenchang is China’s fourth space launch site.  Located on Hainan Island, it has the advantages of being closest to the equator, which is beneficial for satellites travelling to geostationary orbit, and debris from the launch falls into the ocean instead of on land.  The other three sites are inland:  Jiuquan in the Gobi Desert; Xichang, near Chengdu; and Taiyuan, south of Beijing.  China plans to use Wenchang for launches of the Long March 7 and the new Long March 5, expected to makes its debut this year, too.

Long March 7 is a mid-sized rocket (13.5 metric tons to LEO), while Long

March 5 will be China’s most capable rocket ever at 25 metric tons to

LEO. (The largest U.S. rocket is the Delta IV, which can place 28.4 metric tons into LEO.)

Among China’s plans are launches of a new small space station,

Tiangong-2, later this year, and a larger space station in the future

(announced dates vary from 2020 to 2023).  Long March 7 is envisioned

for launches of space station cargo resupply missions.

China had inaugural launches of two new rockets last year, both at the

smaller end of the capability scale (Long March 6 and Long March 11)

from existing launch sites. The newer Long March rockets

use more environmentally friendly fuel and are intended eventually to

replace the older models (Long March 2, 3 and 4).

China’s official news agency, Xinhua, reported June 25 that the Tiangong-2 launch is scheduled for September and a two-person crew will be launched to it in November (other Chinese reports say October) on the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft.  In April 2017, a new cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, will be sent there as well.   Tiangong-2 and Tianzhou-1 both apparently will be launched from Wenchang, while crews will continue to be launched from Jiuquan, although Chinese reports are inconsistent on the launch vehicle and launch site for Tiangong-2.

China launched its first space station, Tiangong-1, in 2011.  Two crews visited it in 2012 and 2013.  It ceased operating in March 2016; China has not indicated whether its reentry will be controlled or uncontrolled.  It is a very small space station, just 8.5 metric tons.  By comparison, the world’s first space station, the Soviet Union’s Salyut 1, launched in 1971, had a mass of 18.5 metric tons.  The first U.S. space station, Skylab, launched in 1973, has a mass of 77 metric tons.  Today’s International Space Station has a mass of about 400 metric tons and has been permanently occupied by crews rotating on 4-6 month schedules since 2000.

China plans a 60 metric ton space station in the future.  Dates vary from 2020-2023.   China has launched a total of five crews into space since 2003.  SpacePolicyOnline.com has a fact sheet listing all of China’s human spaceflight launches, including tests that began in 1999.

This launch placed a scale model of a new crew spacecraft in orbit.  It made 13 orbits of the Earth and landed near Jiuquan at 07:41 GMT on June 26 (3:41 pm local time; 3:41 am EDT).  Jonathan McDowell of Jonathan’s Space Report tweeted (@planet4589) that the name of the payload is “Subscale Multipurpose Return Capsule.”

ChinaSpaceflight tweeted a photo of the capsule before launch.

China has not announced when the new crew spacecraft itself will be introduced.

The Long March 7 launch also is carrying four small spacecraft.  McDowell identifies them as Aolong 1, Aoxiang Zhixing, Tiange feixingqi 1 and 2.  They are attached to the Long March 7’s third stage, YZ-1A, which has another experiment, In-Orbit Refueling Experiment Device, attached to it, McDowell reports.

Note:  This article was updated on June 27 with the landing time for the subscale crew capsule and information that Chinese news sources conflict about the launch vehicle and site for Tiangong-2.  Some sources state that it will be from Wenchang, but a June 25 Xinhua story states that it will be launched from Jiuquan on a Long March 2F, which makes sense since it is similar to Tiangong-1, which was launched that way.  Chinese sources are also inconsistent as to whether Shenzhou-11 will be launched in October or November.

Last Updated: Jun 27, 2016 8:38 pm ET
What's Happening in Space Policy June 27-July 1, 2016

What's Happening in Space Policy June 27-July 1, 2016

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 25, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: June 25, 2016 8:29 pm ET

Here is our list of space policy events for the week of June 27 – July 1, 2016 and any insight we can offer about them.  The Senate is in session part of the week. The House is in recess for the July 4 holiday.

During the Week

The House left town early last week in disarray after Democrats staged a gun control sit-in. It already was scheduled to be off this week and will return on July 5.  The Senate is taking only a short July 4th breather.  It will be in session Monday-Thursday and return on July 6. On Monday it will resume consideration of the FY2017 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill that includes NASA and NOAA.  Both chambers will meet the first two weeks of July and then take a 7-week recess for the political conventions and their usual August recess, returning on September 5-6.  They don’t have a lot of time to get appropriations bills completed before the fiscal year ends on September 30.

Orbital ATK will have the second and final qualification test for the solid rocket boosters for the Space Launch System on Tuesday at its Promontory, Utah test site.  NASA TV will cover the 2-minute test live and a media teleconference shortly thereafter will be available on NASA’s News Audio site.

Up at the International Space Station (ISS), Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Oleg Skripochka will test out a new manual docking system for Russia’s Progress cargo spacecraft on Friday (VERY early Eastern Daylight Time).  Progress MS-01 (Progress 62 in NASA parlance) is currently docked to the Pirs module.  It will undock and then be redocked using the manual system, a backup in case the automated Kurs system doesn’t work properly.  The Progress MS series is the latest version of that cargo spacecraft, in use since 1978, and Russia is also getting ready to launch the first Soyuz MS, the latest variant of that spacecraft.  The first Soyuz was launched in 1967. The Soyuz MS-01 launch is now scheduled for July 6 EDT (July 7 local time at the launch site) after a delay reportedly related to its new Kurs system.  The Kurs system for Progress MS and Soyuz MS is the same and the NASA press release said the test would verify software and a new signal converter for the manual docking system “in the unlikely event the ‘Kurs’ automated rendezvous in either craft encounters a problem.”   Progress MS-01 will undock for a final time on July 2 and reenter (burning up on the way down — SpaceX’s Dragon is the only ISS cargo spacecraft designed to survive reentry).

NASA’s Juno spacecraft is getting closer and closer to Jupiter, with orbital insertion next Monday (July 4).  There will be three briefings that day, but two pre-arrival briefings will be held this Thursday at JPL.  They will be webcast.

Thursday also is Asteroid Day, “a global awareness campaign” with events around the world to learn about asteroids “and what we can do to protect our planet …”   It is an independent effort founded by Britain’s Brian May (the Queen guitarist and astrophysicist), B612’s Danica Remy and Rusty Schweickert, and film director Grigorij Richters and with support from the European Space Agency (ESA).  Thursday is June 30, the anniversary of the 1908 Tunguska (Russia) event, the most destructive meteor airburst of modern times.

To close out the week, the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC is celebrating its 40th anniversary and has invited the public to a family friendly “All Night at the Museum” from 9:00 pm Friday to 10:00 am Saturday with special guests stopping by, all night films and lots of other fun activities.  The official re-opening of the renovated Boeing Milestones of Flight gallery is at 8:30 pm ET.  That and other Friday evening activities will be covered by C-SPAN.

Those and other events we know about as of Saturday afternoon are shown below.  Check back throughout the week for additional events we learn about later and add to our  Events of Interest list.

Tuesday, June 28

Tuesday-Wednesday, June 28-29

Tuesday-Thursday, June 28-30

Wednesday, June 29

Thursday, June 30

Friday, July 1

Friday-Saturday, July 1-2

  • All Night at the Museum, National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC (family friendly event to spend the night there in celebration of its 40th anniversary), 9:00 pm – 10:00 am ET
Last Updated: Jun 25, 2016 8:29 pm ET
NASA Cancels All Travel to COSPAR Meeting in Istanbul

NASA Cancels All Travel to COSPAR Meeting in Istanbul

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 24, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: June 24, 2016 10:13 pm ET

NASA is denying all travel for NASA employees and contractors to the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) conference to be held in Istanbul, Turkey beginning just five weeks from now.  The reason:  security.   COSPAR President Lennard Fisk worries not only about the impact on COSPAR, but the messages NASA is sending about its commitment to leadership in space science and its resolve to not let terrorism be rewarded by changing what we do.

In a June 21 memo, Al Condes, NASA Associate Administrator for International and Interagency Relations, advised NASA employees and contractors, including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), that “the Administrator has determined that the Agency will not sponsor or process travel for the 2016 COSPAR conference.”   Condes added that “As Administrator Bolden has consistently stated, the safety of our NASA family is paramount.”

The COSPAR meeting runs from July 30-August 7.  The Condes memo acknowledges that “a significant number” of employees and contractors “have made tentative plans” to attend. 

Indeed, international travel typically is booked many months in advance, often with non-refundable airline tickets.  The biennial COSPAR conference is the premier event in the space science community where the world’s top space scientists meet to share research results and discuss plans for new missions.  It also provides a forum for broader space issues.  This year’s conference includes a panel on human exploration of the Moon and Mars, for example, at which NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman is (or was) scheduled to speak about NASA’s Journey to Mars.

The Condes memo provides a link to a State Department advisory for travel to Turkey that warns U.S citizens of increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey and especially advises against travel to southeastern Turkey.  Istanbul is in northwestern Turkey. 

The State Department advisory about Turkey is one of 43 alerts and warnings for countries around the globe.  Among them are all of Europe and Israel.  Administrator Bolden just returned from a trip that included France and Israel. 

COSPAR President Len Fisk worries about the impact of NASA’s decision not only for this COSPAR conference, but the next one, which is scheduled to be held at JPL in 2018 and for which planning will be done in Istanbul.  More broadly, he wonders about NASA’s commitment to global leadership in space science when a decision like this means that NASA’s space scientists will be excluded from the discussions.  On an even broader level, he questions what it means in terms of the U.S. response to terrorism and whether we should “reward” terrorism by changing what we do in our daily lives.

In a statement provided to SpacePolicyOnline.com, Fisk expressed his deep concerns.

NASA has cancelled all travel of NASA civil servants and contractors to the COSPAR-2016 meeting to be held in Istanbul on 30 July – 7 August.
And by doing so it demonstrated that it has no intention of exerting
strategic leadership in the world, and that terrorism
should be rewarded. The leaders of all the major space programs will
gather in Istanbul to discuss among other topics, the future of human
space exploration, but NASA will be absent. The major scientists of the
world will gather in Istanbul, to share the results
of their research, to plan future projects, to promote international
cooperation in space science, but NASA civil servants and NASA sponsored
contractors will be absent. And for what reason: a misguided assumption
that Istanbul is more dangerous than Paris,
or Brussels, or Orlando, Florida, or for that matter Israel and Jordan
where NASA Administrator Charles Bolden recently visited. Terrorism is
rewarded if it causes us to cease to pursue  that which is important, or
for that matter our daily lives.

Fisk is the Thomas M. Donohue Distinguished University Professor of Space Science at the University of Michigan and a former NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications.  He is a past chairman of the Space Studies Board at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

Mexico is among the 43 State Department alerts and warnings, less for terrorism than drug-related crimes.  The 2016 International Astronautical Congress (IAC) will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico the last week of September.   NASA employees and contractors would be well advised to take note of NASA’s action in case it makes a similar decision with regard to that meeting.

Last Updated: Jun 24, 2016 10:13 pm ET
China Confirms Saturday for Launch of New Rocket from New Launch Site – UPDATE

China Confirms Saturday for Launch of New Rocket from New Launch Site – UPDATE

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 22, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: June 24, 2016 7:53 pm ET

China confirmed today that it will conduct its first launch from the new Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island on Saturday.  It will be the first launch of a new version of a Long March rocket — Long March 7.  Aboard will be a test scale model of a new crew spacecraft and several small satellites.  [UPDATE, July 24: As of 8:00 pm ET, China still had not announced a launch time.  UNOFFICIAL rumors circulating on the Internet suggest June 25, 11:30-12:00 GMT, which would be 6:30-7:00 am ET, but they are only rumors.]

Wenchang will be China’s fourth space launch site.  The other three are inland:  Jiuquan in the Gobi Desert, Xichang near Chengdu, and Taiyuan near Beijing.  It offers several advantages in that it is closer to the equator, a benefit for satellites headed to geostationary orbit (GEO), and rocket debris will fall in the water instead of on land.  It is a tropical climate, however, with unpredictable weather.   Although the launch is planned for Saturday, it could occur as late as Wednesday depending on the weather.

The main payload for this mission is a test scale model of a new crew spacecraft that is expected to be recovered.  China has launched humans into space five times since 2003 on Shenzhou spacecraft.  The two most recent crews, in 2012 and 2013, visited China’s first space station, Tiangong-1.  Launched in 2011, it ceased operating in March 2016 after 1,630 days in orbit.

China has big plans for Wenchang, which will also be the home of the new Long March 5 rocket, expected to achieve its first launch later this year.  Long March 7 is a mid-sized rocket (13.5 metric tons to LEO), while Long March 5 will be China’s most capable rocket ever at 25 metric tons to LEO.   (The largest U.S. rocket is the Delta IV, which can place 28.4 metric tons into LEO.)  Among China’s plans are launches of a new small space station, Tiangong-2, later this year, and a larger space station in the future (announced dates vary from 2020 to 2023).  Long March 7 is envisioned for launches of space station resupply missions.

This is the first Chinese launch that will have public viewing areas.  The South China Morning Post said that eight viewing sites can accommodate 25,000 people.

The launch time has not been released.  The launch may be shown live on China’s CCTV television outlet (available via the Internet).   Beijing Time is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), so the launch could occur on June 24 EDT.

China had inaugural launches of two new rockets last year, both at the
smaller end of the capability scale (Long March 6 and Long March 11)
from existing launch sites. The newer Long March rockets use more environmentally friendly fuel and are intended eventually to replace the older models (Long March 2, 3 and 4).

Note:  this article was updated on June 24 with the (lack of) information about the launch time.  Payload information was clarified that it is a scale model of the new crew spacecraft and updated to indicate that it is intended to be recovered.

Last Updated: Jun 24, 2016 7:53 pm ET
Atlantic Council Experts Argue for New "Proactive Prevention" National Security Space Strategy

Atlantic Council Experts Argue for New "Proactive Prevention" National Security Space Strategy

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 21, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: June 21, 2016 11:27 pm ET

In a report for the Atlantic Council, Theresa Hitchens and Joan Johnson-Freese argue that the incoming administration needs to relook at U.S. national security space strategy.   Instead of relying on alliterative slogans whose meanings are unclear, a goal-oriented strategy – “proactive prevention” — is needed to ensure that space remains usable for future generations and conflict in space is avoided.

Hitchens is a senior research scholar at the Center for International Security Studies at the University of Maryland and former director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).  Johnson-Freese is a professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College and an expert on China’s space program.  The two discussed the paper at an Atlantic Council event on June 17, where Johnson-Freese stressed that the viewpoints are her own, not those of DOD or the Navy.

During the early years of the Obama Administration, two catch phrases became popular:  that space is “congested, contested and competitive”(the three Cs) and that the United States must maintain the ability to “deter, defend, and, if necessary, defeat” (the three Ds) efforts to attack U.S. or allied space assets.

While both have coexisted in U.S. space policy throughout the Obama Administration, the early focus was on the three Cs and the need to develop international agreements on how to ensure that space is “sustainable” for use in the future and not ruined, for example, by the growth of space debris.

A Chinese antisatellite (ASAT) test against one of its own satellites that created more than 3,000 pieces of debris in 2007 and a collision between an active U.S. Iridium communications satellite and a defunct Russian Kosmos satellite in 2009 added considerably to the population of debris in low Earth orbit.  Those events catalyzed U.S. efforts to create Transparency and Confidence Building Measures (TCBMs) through the United Nations.   In parallel, the European Union drafted a Code of Conduct (CoC) to define what constitutes good behavior in space so that countries could understand what constitutes bad behavior in the eyes of the international space community.  The idea was that peer pressure would encourage countries to behave well and not recklessly add to the space debris problem, for example.

Hitchens and Johnson-Freese argue that all that changed in 2013 when China tested an ASAT weapon that reached geostationary orbit (GEO).   Until then, all ASAT tests – by the United States, Soviet Union/Russia, and China – threatened only satellites in lower orbits.   While those are very important, Hitchens argues that the most critical national security satellites are those in GEO, which until then was thought to be a “sanctuary” where satellites were safe from attack. The 2013 Chinese test changed the threat perception and hardened U.S. attitudes.  Attention shifted to the three Ds (deter, defend, defeat).  At about the same time, Europe’s Code of Conduct effort essentially fell apart.

Today, Johnson-Freese and Hitchens argue that the United States needs to reassess what its goals are in space and how to achieve them rather than using the “bumper stickers” of the three Cs and three Ds or “scaring people” with recent rhetoric about the need to increase spending for space security by $5 billion and last year’s 60 Minutes segment with Gen. John Hyten and Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James discussing “The Battle Above.”

They describe their paper as a starting point for discussion that begins with the premise that the goal is to avoid conflict in space since the United States is heavily dependent on satellites not only for national security purposes, but for everyday life.  In fact, they argue that civil government agencies like NASA and NOAA as well as industry must be involved in generating a new national security space strategy – a “holistic” approach – since they are also deeply involved in space activities.

Hitchens and Johnson-Freese propose a “proactive prevention” strategy “aimed squarely at preventing a space conflict, while also preparing to win one if need be.”  Their paper is published on the Atlantic Council website.

Last Updated: Jun 21, 2016 11:27 pm ET
What's Happening in Space Policy June 20-25, 2016

What's Happening in Space Policy June 20-25, 2016

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 19, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: June 19, 2016 4:31 pm ET

Here is our list of space policy events for the week of June 20-25, 2016 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in session this week.

During the Week

The Senate is scheduled to continue debate on the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill this week, which funds NASA and NOAA   It got off to a rocky start last week when a Democratic filibuster over gun control in the wake of the Orlando tragedy held up action for about a day (as its name implies, the bill also funds the Department of Justice), but agreement was reached to allow votes on gun control amendments and debate on the bill resumed.  The House schedule for the coming week still was not posted as of Sunday afternoon.  The House meets only in pro forma session tomorrow, then will meet for legislative business Tuesday-Friday before taking off a week plus a bit for the July 4 holiday.

On Wednesday, the Aviation Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee will hold a rare hearing on commercial space transportation.  The FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) is under the jurisdiction of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, but T&I has jurisdiction over the rest of the FAA and some commercial space transportation-related activities are handled by other parts of the FAA.  For FY2017, for example, in addition to the $19.8 million for AST, FAA is requesting $2.0 million as part of a $20 million request for Air Traffic Management (ATM) in the Facilities and Equipment (F&E) account and $2.953 million for commercial space transportation safety in the Research, Engineering and Development (RE&D) account.  The ATM funding is for integrating commercial launches into the National Air Space, a growing issue with the rise in the number of orbital and suborbital launches — and in the case of the Dragon spacecraft, landings — that require aircraft to avoid certain areas.  FAA/AST head George Nield, COMSTAC’s Mike Gold and Michael Lopez-Alegria, GAO’s Gerald Dillingham, and Taber MacCallum from World View Enterprises are the witnesses.  World View Enterprises plans high altitude (stratospheric) balloon flights for tourists and counts Alan Stern and Mark Kelly as members of its executive team.

Speaking of launches, NASA Wallops Flight Facility Director Bill Wrobel will speak to the Maryland Space Business Roundtable on Tuesday.  Wallops is getting ready for the return to flight of Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket, although that has been delayed to August.

Still speaking of launches, China reportedly is getting ready for the first launch of yet another new rocket from a brand new launch site, possibly on Saturday.  China had inaugural launches of two new rockets last year, both at the smaller end of the capability scale (Long March 6 and Long March 11) from existing launch sites.  The upcoming launch is the first from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island.  China has not officially announced a launch date, but there are rumors it will be on June 25 (which might be June 24 Eastern Daylight Time depending on the launch time).  China has big plans for Wenchang, which will also be the home of the new Long March 5 rocket, expected to achieve its first launch later this year.  Long March 7 is a mid-sized rocket (13.5 metric tons to LEO), while Long March 5 will be China’s most capable rocket ever at 25 metric tons to LEO.   (The largest U.S. rocket is the Delta IV, which can place 28.4 metric tons into LEO.)  The newer Long March rockets use more environmentally friendly fuel and are intended eventually to replace the older models (Long March 2, 3 and 4).

Also on Saturday, Politicon 2016 will be starting in Pasadena, CA.  The Planetary Society (TPS) has a panel discussion scheduled for 2:00 pm Pacific Daylight Time on “How We Get to Mars.”   A June 16 tweet from TPS’s Director of Advocacy Casey Dreier identifies the panelists as TPS CEO Bill Nye, former Hill staffer Bill Adkins (now President of Adkins Strategies, LLC), and former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver (now General Manager of the Air Line Pilots Association).

Those and other events we know about as of Sunday afternoon are shown below.  Check back throughout the week for new items added to our Events of Interest list that we learn about later.

Tuesday, June 21

Tuesday-Thursday, June 21-23

Wednesday, June 22

Saturday, June 25

Last Updated: Jun 19, 2016 4:31 pm ET
Antares Return to Flight Pushed Back to August

Antares Return to Flight Pushed Back to August

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 17, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: June 17, 2016 9:14 pm ET

The return to flight of Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket will be sometime in August rather than July 6.  The company is still analyzing data from its May 31 hot fire test and the timing of the launch also depends on other activities on the International Space Station (ISS).

The July 6 date has always been tentative, but in an emailed statement to SpacePolicyOnline.com today, Orbital ATK confirmed the slip to August.

“We are continuing to prepare for the upcoming launch of the Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft for the OA-5 cargo logistics mission to the International Space Station from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. Our Antares team recently completed a successful stage test and is wrapping up the test data analysis. 

“Final trajectory shaping work is also currently underway, which is likely to result in an updated launch schedule in the August timeframe.  A final decision on the mission schedule, which takes into account the space station traffic schedule and cargo requirements, will be made in conjunction with NASA in the next several weeks. Also, our Cygnus spacecraft for the OA-6 mission successfully undocked from the space station and hosted the Spacecraft Fire Experiment-I (Saffire). The team is now performing the final OA-6 mission milestones.”

The delay was first reported by Space News.

Orbital ATK uses Antares to launch Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the ISS.  An October 2014 attempt failed 15 seconds after launch because of a problem with its AJ26 engine, a version of a Russian NK-33 engine built in the 1970s and refurbished by Aerojet Rocketdyne.  The company decided to replace the AJ26/NK-33 engines with new Russian RD-181s.   Two RD-181s are needed for each launch instead of one AJ26/NK-33. 

A hot fire test of the re-engined Antares with two RD-181s took place on May 31 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops Island, VA, the launch site for Antares.

While awaiting the Antares return to flight, Orbital ATK has launched two Cygnus cargo craft to ISS using United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rockets.  Those were the Orbital ATK (OA)-4 and OA-6 missions.  OA-6 just departed from the ISS and will reenter Earth’s atmosphere on July 22.  The Antares return-to-flight mission is OA-5.  The sequence is out of order because OA-5 was intended to take place between OA-4 and OA-6, but Antares was delayed and the decision was made to keep the mission designations with their launch vehicles (OA-4 and -6 on ULA’s Atlas V; OA-5 on Orbital ATK’s Antares).

Last Updated: Jun 17, 2016 9:14 pm ET

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