Category: International

What's Happening in Space Policy February 13-18, 2017

What's Happening in Space Policy February 13-18, 2017

By Marcia Smith | Posted: February 12, 2017 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: February 12, 2017 5:50 pm ET

Here is our list of space policy events for the week of February 13-18, 2017 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in session this week.

During the Week

The House Science, Space, and Technology (SS&T) Committee will hold the year’s first congressional hearing on NASA this week. Committee chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) said that it was intended to provide a “panoramic” view of NASA’s past, present and future to acquaint new committee members with the agency.   No current NASA employees are on the witness list, but all four worked at the agency at one time:  Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, who along with Gene Cernan were the last two men on the Moon (he also was a U.S. Senator from 1977-1983); famed Gemini and Apollo astronaut Tom Stafford, who currently chairs NASA’s International Space Station Advisory Committee; Ellen Stofan, who just stepped down after three years as NASA’s Chief Scientist; and Tom Young, whose storied career includes serving as mission director for the Viking program, director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and industry executive with Martin Marietta and Lockheed Martin (after Martin Marietta and Lockheed merged to form the current company).  Schmitt was the only scientist to walk on the Moon.  He is a geologist, as is Stofan.  Should be really interesting.  No shrinking violets on that panel!  That’s on Thursday at 10:00 am ET.  The committee webcasts its hearings on its website and YouTube channel.

Earlier in the week. the D.C. alumni chapter of the International Space University is holding another of its “Space Cafes.”  These monthly informal get togethers always feature really interesting speakers and this time is no exception — there will be four of them, in fact, all from Europe.  Jean-Luc Bald from the European Union’s Washington office; Micheline Tabache, the Washington representative of the European Space Agency (ESA); and Norbert Paluch and Juergen Drescher, the Washington reps for the French and German space agencies respectively.  Remember that the venue for the ISU-DC Space Cafes has changed to The Brixton at 901 U Street, NW.  The Space Cafes usually are on Tuesdays, but this one is Monday (tomorrow).

The date has slipped a couple of times already, but the current plan is for SpaceX to launch its first cargo mission to the ISS since the September 1, 2016 on-pad explosion on Saturday at 10:01 am ET.  This is SpaceX’s 10th operational Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission for NASA — SpaceX CRS-10 or SpX-10.   It will mark SpaceX’s first launch from NASA’s Launch Complex 39A, which SpaceX is leasing from NASA.   Previous SpaceX East Coast launches have been from the pad SpaceX leases from the Air Force at the adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.  That is Launch Complex-40, which was damaged in the September 1 incident.  SpaceX plans to use LC-39A for launches of both its current Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy (FH) still in development.  The company expected that the first launch from LC-39A would be the maiden flight of the FH last November.  That didn’t work out, but the launch pad was close to being ready so is available for this flight.  SpaceX is confident it has fixed the problem that caused the September 1 explosion and the Falcon 9 returned to flight status with an Iridium launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA last month.  No new date for the FH’s maiden flight has been announced.

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

Monday, February 13

Tuesday, February 14

Wednesday-Friday, February 15-17

Wednesday-Saturday, February 15-18

Thursday, February 16

Thursday-Friday, February 16-17

Thursday-Saturday, February 16-18

Saturday, February 18

Last Updated: Feb 12, 2017 5:50 pm ET
FAA Commercial Space Conference Takeaways From Bridenstine, Babin, Gerstenmaier, and Stern

FAA Commercial Space Conference Takeaways From Bridenstine, Babin, Gerstenmaier, and Stern

By Marcia Smith | Posted: February 8, 2017 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: February 16, 2017 5:20 pm ET

The 20th FAA Commercial Space Transportation conference in Washington, DC ended today.  Among the many interesting keynotes and panel discussions were presentations by Reps. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) and Brian Babin (R-TX) and the head of NASA’s human spaceflight program Bill Gerstenmaier.

Babin chairs the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.  Bridenstine is a member of that subcommittee as well as the Strategic Forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, which oversees many national security space programs. Gerstenmaier is NASA’s Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations (HEO), which oversees the International Space Station (ISS) and its associated commercial cargo and commercial crew programs, as well as development of the Space Launch System (SLS), Orion crew spacecraft, and other systems needed to send humans beyond low Earth orbit.

The conference was organized by the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) for the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST). 

CSF Chairman Alan Stern opened the conference yesterday with an announcement that surprised many in the audience.  Pointedly telling reporters in the room that he wanted them to hear him clearly, he said CSF was announcing that it supports SLS.   “Exploration of space for all purposes, including commercial spaceflight, is our interest and to that end the CSF is announcing that we see many potential benefits” in NASA’s SLS program.  “There are bright futures across the spectrum in commercial space and the SLS can be a resource that … makes our future .. even brighter.”

The statement is somewhat surprising because there is a tension between those who support government development of new launch vehicles and those who think that should be left to private sector companies with the expectation they can do it more quickly and cost effectively.  Since CSF represents many of the companies developing and marketing space launch services, its support for a government-developed system was far from assured.

Here are snapshots from the remarks by Bridenstine, Babin, and Gerstenmaier.

Bridenstine

Bridenstine’s prepared remarks closely tracked those he made last year at this conference and in other venues.  Today he listed four actions that are needed to effectively leverage the commercial space industry:

  • strike a balance between what the government should purchase, own and operate and what the government should acquire as a service;
  • fix the regulatory structure by restoring AST to the more prominent position it had before 1995 in the Office of the Secretary of Transportation and adequately fund it;
  • relieve DOD of the task of providing space situational awareness (SSA) data to non-military entities by reassigning it to a civil agency like AST (but not necessarily AST — it is an issue Congress should discuss);
  • provide commercial space companies with a process that ensures a minimum
    regulatory burden with maximum regulatory certainty.

With regard to the last point, he advocates that AST be assigned responsibility for regulating non-traditional commercial space activities like asteroid mining or placing habitats on the Moon in order to comply with U.S. obligations under the Outer Space Treaty.   He is developing legislation that would create an “enhanced payload review process” building on AST’s existing payload review process to authorize and continually supervise private sector activities in space.  Currently AST regulates only launch and reentry, not what takes place in space.  “We must ensure there is no question as to the statutory and regulatory mechanisms the United States government can utilize to affirmatively approve” non-traditional space activities. 

His views on regulation of non-traditional space activities contrast with those advocated by Babin (discussed below).  Bridenstine said in response to a question that he and Babin are good friends and although they have not reached agreement on how to harmonize their disparate approaches, he is optimistic they will.

Bridenstine is a leading candidate to become NASA Administrator.  Although he is best known for his leadership in Congress on space issues at DOD, FAA and NOAA, his American Space Renaissance Act (ASRA) from last year addressed NASA issues, too. Today he declined to answer a question about whether he might become Administrator, but did express his strong support for NASA’s SLS and Orion programs.  He is identified with the commercial space sector and some SLS/Orion advocates worry that commercial space supporters may try to undermine SLS/Orion by arguing that the commercial sector can provide requisite capabilities quicker and cheaper.  Bridenstine clearly stated today that SLS and Orion have his full support, however.  He also said he is “100 percent” in favor of sending humans to Mars and reiterated his enthusiasm for a return to the Moon.

ASRA was never intended to pass as a stand-alone bill, but rather to serve as a repository for provisions that could be incorporated into other legislation.  Ten of its provisions were included in the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act. Bridenstine said today that he plans to introduce an updated version of ASRA and welcomes input.  

Bridenstine also was asked about a letter he recently sent, along with two other Members of Congress, questioning whether DARPA’s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program conforms with National Space Policy wherein the government is not supposed to compete with the private sector and is supposed to make government technologies available to commercial companies on an equitable basis. The letter states that DARPA’s plan to award a $200 million contract to a single company, which would retain the satellite and the intellectual property, violates the policy and would distort the market.  DARPA was about to award that contract to Space Systems/Loral, but Orbital ATK filed suit against DARPA yesterday to stop it.  Orbital ATK is developing geosynchronous satellite servicing technologies itself.  Bridenstine said today that RSGS is critical for national security and while there are some technologies that only DARPA can develop, such as completely autonomous mechanical servicing, others can be provided commercially, such as maneuvering capabilities.  DARPA demonstrating technologies is one thing, but commercializing them is another, he argued, and that is why he wrote the letter. 

Babin

Babin’s speech also closely paralleled what he said last year.   He and Bridenstine disagree on how to regulate new non-traditional space activities to ensure the United States complies with its international treaty obligations.  While Bridenstine wants to create an enhanced payload review process administered by AST to provide regulatory certainty to companies, Babin does not accept that regulations are needed at all.  He asserts that companies should not have to obtain government permission to conduct any space activity.  Instead, the burden should be on the government to demonstrate that it has a requirement to intrude.  He wants a regime where private sector activities are “presumed authorized” and the government can place restrictions on those activities only if it cannot address its concerns by any other means.

Babin also disagrees on the idea of AST taking responsibility for providing SSA to non-military users.  He argues that there are other options — other government agencies or a public private partnership — that need to be explored first.  As he said last year, he plans to hold hearings on these topics this year.

Gerstenmaier

Gerstenmaier focused his remarks on risk — specifically the risks inherent in human spaceflight.  His office oversees the development of commercial crew systems by SpaceX and Boeing that will take crews to and from ISS beginning next year, as well as the Orion spacecraft that will take astronauts to cis-lunar space and eventually to Mars.

One metric for characterizing risk in this context is the probability of a failure that would kill the crew — Loss of Crew (LOC).  Gerstenmaier’s message is that there will always be “unknown unknowns” in any system, no matter how many times it flies, and thus there will always be some level of risk  The more the system flies, the more experience is gained, and the more engineers learn about what might fail.  He noted that when the first space shuttle flew in 1981, models calculated the LOC at 1 in 500 to 1 in 5000.   After accumulating data on all 135 shuttle flights — two of which, Challenger and Columbia, ended with the deaths of their crews — NASA concluded that the actual risk for that first flight was 1 in 12.  At the end of the program, after those 135 flights, the risk overall was put at 1 in 90.

The LOC for the commercial crew program was set at 1 in 275, but he stressed that too much importance is assigned to that figure. He argued that LOC numbers are useful for comparing different designs, for example, but not in determining absolute risk.  “Do not judge a spacecraft by its LOC number,” he urged.   The challenge is to not become complacent as systems start flying because there is always more to learn.  “Stay hungry, stay curious, stay humble” and do not be afraid to discover new problems, discuss them, understand them, and solve them.

The public and other stakeholders need to understand and acknowledge these risks, he said, so NASA needs to learn how to effectively communicate with them as these new systems are about to come on line.

Note:  Gerstenmaier said the LOC metric is 1 in 275 for commercial crew, but it actually is 1 in 270.

Last Updated: Feb 16, 2017 5:20 pm ET
Culberson Praises NASA's Earth Science Program, Calls NASA Strategic National Asset

Culberson Praises NASA's Earth Science Program, Calls NASA Strategic National Asset

By Marcia Smith | Posted: February 7, 2017 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: February 8, 2017 2:46 am ET

Rep. John Culberson (R-TX), who chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA and NOAA, praised NASA’s earth science program today.  Many earth scientists are worried about what the Trump Administration’s plans are for the program based on an op-ed written by two Trump space advisers during the presidential campaign.  It proposed moving NASA’s programs to other agencies.  Culberson sounded the opposite note, however, suggesting that NASA assume responsibility for NOAA’s satellite programs.  Culberson is one of NASA’s most ardent supporters on Capitol Hill, calling the agency a “strategic national asset” that will assure America remains great for centuries to come.

Culberson spoke to the Space Transportation Association (STA) on Capitol Hill today, enthusiastically supporting NASA overall, especially robotic missions to Jupiter’s moon Europa and the Space Launch System (SLS).

Sending an orbiter plus a lander and a probe to descend through crevasses in Europa’s ice-covered surface into the postulated ocean below is Culberson’s passion.  He is determined to find life elsewhere in the solar system and is convinced it will be on Europa. He has added money to NASA’s budget for several years to execute Europa missions and included language in law directing NASA to do so.  He pointed out today that it is illegal for NASA not to fly a Europa mission.  He believes that finding extraterrestrial life will be a “pivot point” in human history that will enable “all of us to take NASA funding to the next level” and allow the agency to achieve even more.

He wants NASA to launch the Europa spacecraft and missions to study other “ocean worlds” in the solar system using SLS.  He considers the rocket essential to NASA needs more broadly and wants it included in whatever infrastructure bill the Trump Administration sends to Congress. Just as President Eisenhower is remembered for creating the interstate highway system, Trump could go down in history for creating an interplanetary highway system, he suggested.

The solar system is not the limit, though.  Culberson is a strong advocate for developing new propulsion systems to send spacecraft to nearby stars.  His subcommittee’s report on the FY2017 CJS appropriations bill calls on NASA to submit an “interstellar propulsion technology assessment report” with a conceptual roadmap to send a probe to Alpha Centauri in 2069, the 100th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon, at 10 percent the speed of light (0.1 c).  Today he said that Aerojet Rocketdyne told him it was possible to build a system that could achieve 0.3 c, although a company representative in the room suggested that was a misunderstanding.

In the nearer term, NASA is developing high power solar electric propulsion as part of the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM).  Asked about prospects for ARM under the Trump Administration, Culberson said he did not know, but argued that some aspects of it, like propulsion development and gaining experience in human space operations, are essential for future NASA activities.  “We need to think big, long term,” he continued.  “If we could lay out a 100-year plan for NASA, you’ve essentially laid out a 500-year plan for NASA, and if you could figure out a 500-year plan for NASA you would have in a real way laid the foundation for a 1,000 year plan.  What a privilege that is.” 

He likes to look far into the future and considers NASA a strategic national asset that is “essential to preserve American leadership, to assure America not only is great, but stays great, and preserves that in the 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th centuries and beyond.”

For now, however, just getting appropriations bills enacted into law is a challenge.  Culberson lamented the fact that the 12 regular FY2017 appropriations bills are not completed.  NASA and all other government agencies are currently funded at their FY2016 levels by a Continuing Resolution (CR) through April 28, 2017.  He said the final version of the FY2017 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) bill is ready to be passed, though he could not share any of its details.   He called on Senate Republicans to change Senate rules to prevent appropriations bills from being filibustered, meaning it would take only 51 instead of 60 votes for them to pass.  The filibuster is a core Senate rule that allows a single Senator to prevent a bill from moving forward, one of the major differences between the how the House and Senate operate.  Democrats changed the rule for presidential nominations when they last controlled the Senate out of frustration that President Obama’s nominations could not be confirmed due to entrenched Republican opposition, but it remains in effect for other Senate legislation.   Culberson wants appropriations bills to be treated the same as presidential nominations since they are the only bills that must pass Congress in order to keep the government operating.

Currently, though, 60 votes are needed and with Republicans holding only a slim majority (effectively a 52-48 split), he was not optimistic about quick passage of the FY2017 bills or future bills.  CRs do not allow Congress to control agency programs to the same extent as the 12 regular bills.

Appropriations bills determine how much money agencies may spend and dictate how the money can be spent.  Culberson became chairman of the subcommittee after Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) retired and the two hold similar views about China.  Wolf originated language that prohibits NASA from spending appropriated funds to interact with China on space programs except under narrowly defined circumstances. 

Culberson said today that Wolf was right.  Remarking that America can do a lot better than spending just 0.4
percent of the federal budget on NASA, Culberson added that “China is
not waiting on us. They are stealing us blind. The Chinese government is
stealing every piece of technology they can and using what they’ve
stolen from our program to very aggressively go after natural resources
on the Moon and asteroids.”  Space is the “high ground of the 21st
Century” and the Chinese “are going to use it in ways that we’re not
going to like.”

Culberson spoke at length about NASA’s space science programs and the value of the Decadal Surveys produced by the National Academies in identifying future missions.   He did not mention NASA’s earth science program during his prepared remarks, however.  The second earth science Decadal Survey is currently underway.  Many earth scientists are worried about what the Trump Administration may do with NASA’s program because two Trump space advisors, Bob Walker and Peter Navarro, recommended in a Space News op-ed during the presidential campaign that NASA’s activities be transferred to other agencies so NASA can focus on space exploration.  It was not a new idea.  Republican members of NASA’s House and Senate authorization committees have advocated such a move for the past several years, but it has not been implemented.  In the absence of any newer information about the Trump Administration’s plans for NASA, the Walker-Navarro op-ed provides the only inkling of what may be in store.

In response to a question today, however, Culberson sounded the opposite point of view.  He praised NASA’s earth science program and suggested that NASA take responsibility for NOAA’s satellite systems.  “NASA’s earth science continues to do great work.  We have to have the facts. … The role of NASA’s earth science division should be to provide us good data free of any political filter or agenda.  … Work that’s done there is essential.  Quite frankly one thing I’ve been interested in pursuing is why we don’t move satellite operations at NOAA over to NASA so NASA can handle all our earth observation and weather satellites because NASA does frankly a very good job with these things and NOAA’s had problems… “

Last Updated: Feb 08, 2017 2:46 am ET
What's Happening in Space Policy February 6-10, 2017 – UPDATE 2

What's Happening in Space Policy February 6-10, 2017 – UPDATE 2

By Marcia Smith | Posted: February 5, 2017 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: February 6, 2017 8:16 am ET

Here’s our list of space policy events for the week of February 6-10, 2017 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in session part of the week.

During the Week

The big event this week is the FAA’s annual Commercial Space Transportation conference in Washington, DC on Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesday.  This year it is being organized by the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) and held at the Ronald Reagan Building.  As usual it has top notch keynote speakers and panel sessions.  One keynote many will be watching is Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), who is speaking at 12:30 pm ET on Wednesday.   He is widely rumored to be seeking the NASA Administrator job and, in any case, is a prominent congressional advocate for commercial space, especially broadening the role of the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation.  The agenda says nothing about webcasting.  If we learn anything about a webcast, we’ll add the link to our calendar item for this event. [UPDATE: A CSF spokeswoman says there will NOT be a webcast this year.]

The Senate will continue to consider nominations, some more contentious than others.  No date seems to be set for confirming Wilbur Ross for Secretary of Commerce, but he was easily approved by the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.  A Senate vote could come at any time.

Over on the House side, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee will hold its 115th Congress organizational meeting on Tuesday at 10:00 ET according to National Journal’s Daybook, although it is not posted on the committee’s website (as of Sunday morning, at least). The committee is holding its first hearing of the year (on EPA) at 11:00 that morning, so an organizational meeting in advance makes sense.  The Republican committee leadership identified its key priorities for this Congress and announced subcommittee leadership and membership positions last week.   “Constancy of Purpose Within NASA” is the fifth of the committee’s top five priorities.  Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) will continue to chair the Space Subcommittee and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) takes over as chair of the Environment Subcommittee (which oversees NOAA’s satellite programs).

On a completely different topic, the Washington Space Business Roundtable (WSBR) will have a panel discussion on Spectrum Traffic Jams on Friday.  The battle for spectrum — especially freeing spectrum for use by the commercial sector by taking it away from government users, and satellite versus terrestrial needs  — wages on.  Al Wissman from NOAA, Victoria Samson from the Secure World Foundation, and Valerie Green from Ligado join Caleb Henry of Space News for the lunchtime discussion.  Note that the meeting is at the City Club of Washington (555 13th Street, NW), not the University Club where WSBR often holds its luncheon meetings.

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

Monday-Friday (February 6-10) (second week of meeting)

Tuesday, February 7

Tuesday-Wednesday, February 7-8

Tuesday-Thursday, February 7-9

Wednesday, February 8

Friday, February 10

 Note:  This article has been updated.

Last Updated: Feb 06, 2017 8:16 am ET
Smith, Babin Urge Passage of NASA Transition Authorization Act

Smith, Babin Urge Passage of NASA Transition Authorization Act

By Marcia Smith | Posted: January 30, 2017 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: January 31, 2017 12:20 am ET

Two top Republicans on the House Science, Space, and Technology (SS&T) Committee are urging quick passage of the 2017 NASA Transition Authorization Act.  As we reported yesterday, a new draft is circulating right now and could see action in the Senate this week.

House SS&T Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX), who chaired the Space Subcommittee in the last Congress and is expected to do so again, both spoke at a Space Transportation Association (STA) event this evening.  Smith said he hoped for action in the Senate in the next few days.

The Senate passed the 2016 NASA Transition Authorization Act in the closing days of the 114th Congress, but the House had already completed its legislative business for the year so the bill did not clear Congress.  A slightly revised version is now being readied and Smith and Babin both spoke optimistically about its passage in order to achieve one of its key themes — continuity.   Congressional Republicans and Democrats have stressed the need to avoid any major disruptions to NASA programs as happened early in President Obama’s administration.  Obama cancelled President George W. Bush’s Constellation program to return humans to the surface of the Moon by 2020 and replaced it with a program to send humans to orbit Mars by the 2030s, with the Asteroid Redirect Mission in between. Obama also shifted NASA out of transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), instead using public-private partnerships to develop “commercial crew” capabilities.  NASA will buy services from companies rather than building and owning its own system.  Boeing and SpaceX were chosen to develop the commercial crew systems, which have not yet flown.  NASA has not been able to launch people into space since the space shuttle was terminated in 2011.  It relies on Russia to take astronauts to and from ISS.

The most recent NASA authorization act became law in 2010.  Its funding recommendations covered only three years, through FY2013, although its policy provisions remain in force.  The new draft NASA Transition Authorization Act would recommend funding only for FY2017, which is already in progress, but provides policy guidance for most of NASA’s programs.  Policy provisions typically do not expire.

Smith and Babin did not commit to when the House would take up a Senate-passed bill, but made clear that they hope for quick action, followed by a 2018 NASA authorization act.

Smith also said that the committee’s first space-related hearing would take place in mid-February and would be a “panoramic view” of NASA’s past, present and future to acquaint the many new members of the committee with NASA’s activities.  Republican members of the committee have been named, but not the Democrats, and subcommittee assignments are pending.   Smith said there would be many space hearings this year, perhaps more than the 19 held last year.

No news was offered on when a new NASA Administrator might be nominated.  Smith said only that he expected it “in coming weeks.”  Babin added that although he and Smith do not know any details of what President Trump’s budget request for NASA will be, he is “confident” they all are on the same page — providing NASA with appropriate funding because “a great nation needs a robust, reliable, executable and rational space exploration program and I think that our President Trump realizes this and knows it.”

Last Updated: Jan 31, 2017 12:20 am ET
What's Happening in Space Policy January 30 – February 3, 2017

What's Happening in Space Policy January 30 – February 3, 2017

By Marcia Smith | Posted: January 29, 2017 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: January 29, 2017 9:59 pm ET

Here is our list of space policy events for the week of January 30 – February 3, 2017 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in session this week.

During the Week

Tuesday is NASA’s official Day of Remembrance, honoring the crews of Apollo 1, space shuttle Challenger, space shuttle Columbia and other astronauts who lost their lives in connection with spaceflight.  Some events have already taken place, including two at Kennedy Space Center last week to specially honor the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire that killed Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee on January 27, 1967.  Nineteen years and a day later, on January 28, 1986, Challenger’s 7-person crew died 73 seconds after launch when an O-ring on a solid rocket booster failed.  Seventeen years and four days after that, on February 1, 2003, Columbia’s 7-person crew died during their descent to Earth after a 16-day mission when superheated gases entered a hole in Columbia’s wing punctured by a piece of foam that fell from the shuttle’s External Tank during launch.  NASA has a special Day of Remembrance webpage honoring all of them.  Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot will lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday and other events will take place at various NASA centers around the country.

In Congress this week, a new version of the NASA Transition Authorization Act is being readied for potential consideration by the Senate.  The Senate passed a 2016 bill in the closing days of the 114th Congress, unfortunately after the House already had completed its legislative business so the bill did not clear Congress.   Members and staff have kept working on it and a 2017 version with some modifications is being circulated.  According to a draft we’ve seen, there are three especially interesting changes.  One clarifies that the primary consideration for the acquisition strategy for the commercial crew program is to carry U.S. astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) “safely, reliably, and affordably.”  Another directs NASA to report to Congress on how the Orion spacecraft can fulfill the provision in the 2010 NASA Authorization Act that it be able to serve as a backup to commercial crew, including with use of a launch vehicle other than the Space Launch System.  The third is a finding that NASA has not demonstrated to Congress that the cost of the Asteroid Redirect Mission is commensurate with its benefits, a stronger statement than what was in the 2016 bill.  Discussions are still ongoing, apparently, about potential language regarding best practices for using Space Act Agreements.  The course of legislation is rarely smooth, so there’s no guarantee the bill will be introduced and considered this week, but we hear that’s the plan.

Also on the Senate side, a vote is scheduled for Tuesday at 12:20 pm ET on the nomination of Elaine Chao to be Secretary of Transportation.  A vote on Wilbur Ross’s nomination to be Secretary of Commerce has not been formally scheduled, but is expected this week.

Subject to a rule being granted, the House will take up a completely different piece of legislation this week.  A still unnumbered House Joint Resolution (H. J. Res.) would disapprove of a final rule issued by DOD, NASA and the General Services Administration (GSA) on August 25, 2016 that went into effect on October 25, 2016 to implement Executive Order 13673 regarding Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces.  The resolution is posted on the House Rules Committee’s website and states that Congress disapproves of 81 Fed. Reg. 58562 to improve contractor compliance with labor laws.  The House Rules Committee will take it up on Tuesday.  Assuming the rule is granted, the House is scheduled to vote on it on Thursday.

Off the Hill, the American Physical Society is holding its “April Meeting” in January.  It began yesterday and runs through January 31.  Of particular note is a presentation by the Russian Ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, on Tuesday.  He will talk about “Science and Technology Cooperation as an Effective Bridge for Strengthening Relations Between Russia and the US.”   The conference is not focused on space and Kislyak’s talk may be quite broad about S&T cooperation, but it would be surprising if the ISS doesn’t get mentioned.

Way, way, way off the Hill — in Vienna, Austria — the Science and Technology Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) holds its annual two-week meeting beginning tomorrow. 

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

Monday, January 30

Monday-Tuesday, January 30-31 (actually began on January 28)

Monday, January 30 – Friday, February 10

Tuesday, January 31

  • NASA Day of Remembrance, wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery, 11:00 am ET, events also at other locations and times

Thursday, February 2

Friday, February 3

Last Updated: Jan 29, 2017 9:59 pm ET
Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Bill Makes a Comeback – UPDATE

Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Bill Makes a Comeback – UPDATE

By Marcia Smith | Posted: January 15, 2017 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: April 19, 2017 10:28 pm ET

The House passed a new iteration of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act on January 9.  H.R. 353 is the latest version of legislation that passed the Senate in the closing days of the 114th Congress, but did not clear the House.  The bill’s focus is not on satellites, but several provisions would affect NOAA’s satellite activities. [UPDATE: The Senate passed an amended version of the bill on March 29, 2017 – the amendments did not affect the NOAA satellite provisions.  The House agreed with the Senate amendments on April 4.  The President signed the bill into law, P.L. 115-25, on April 18.]

The legislation dates back to 2013 and went through many changes before passing the Senate on December 1, 2016 as H.R. 1561.  That was thought to be a compromise between the House and Senate, combining elements of the version of H.R. 1561 that passed the House on May 19, 2015; S. 1331, the Seasonal Weather Forecasting Act, approved by the Senate Commerce Committee on May 20, 2015; S. 1573, Weather Alerts for a Ready Nation Act, reported from the Senate Commerce Committee on October 19, 2015; and H.R. 34, the Tsunami Warning, Education and Research Act, which passed the House on January 7, 2015 and the Senate (amended) on October 6, 2015.  (Note that H.R. 34 became the legislative vehicle for the 21st Century Cures Act, which recently became law, but does not contain any of the tsunami language.)

Although Senate passage seemed to bode well for the legislation, it turned out that not everyone agreed with the compromise.  House Republicans from Georgia objected to a water resources provision that earlier had been added by Florida Senator Bill Nelson (D) even though Georgia’s two Senators had agreed to the bill by unanimous consent.  The Washington Post reported that House leadership removed the language and tried to pass the bill by unanimous consent, but the Senate indicated it would not accept the bill if amended in that manner. The controversial language calls for a study of water resources of the Chattahoochee River, a major water source for Florida, Georgia and Alabama.

Thus, the bill died at the end of the 114th Congress.  It now has been reintroduced as H.R. 353, without the water resources provision.  The question remains as to whether the Senate will agree to this version.   (The new bill also omits the tsunami provisions, which were reintroduced separately as H.R. 312.)

Satellite-related provisions of H.R. 353 require NOAA to do the following:

  • develop and maintain a prioritized list of observation data requirements necessary to ensure weather forecasting capabilities to protect life and property to the maximum extent practicable and utilize Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs), Observing System Experiments, Analyses of Alternatives and other assessment tools to continually evaluate observing systems, data and information needed to meet those requirements and identify potential gaps and options to address gaps;
  • undertake OSSEs to quantitatively assess the relative value and benefits of observing capabilities and systems and determine the potential impact of proposed space-based, suborbital, and in situ observing systems on analyses and forecasts;
  • conduct OSSEs prior to the acquisition of government-owned or -leased operational observing systems, including polar orbiting and geostationary satellites with a lifecycle cost of more than $500 million and prior to the purchase of any major new commercially provided data with a lifecycle cost of more than $500 million;
  • complete an OSSE to assess the value of data from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Radio Occultation (RO) within 30 days of enactment of this law;
  • complete an OSSE to assess the value of data from a geostationary hyperspectral sounder global constellation within 120 days of enactment;
  • after completing the OSSEs, make public an assessment of private and public weather data sourcing options, including their availability, affordabilty, and cost-effectiveness;
  • complete and operationalize the COSMIC-1 and COSMIC-2 satellite constellations (joint programs with Taiwan for obtaining GNSS-RO measurements)
  • enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences or another appropriate organization before September 30, 2018 to study future satellite needs;
  • submit a strategy to enable the procurement of quality commercial weather data within 180 days of enactment;
  • publish data and metadata standards and specifications for space-based commercial weather data within 30 days of enactment and enter into at least one pilot contract  within 90 days of enactment, and within 3 years of the contract date, submit a report to Congress on the results;
  • publish data and metadata standards and specifications for geostationary hyperspectral data as soon and possible;
  • if the results of the commercial weather data pilots are successful, obtain commercial weather data from private sector providers where appropriate, cost-effective and feasible, and as early as possible in the acquisition process for future government meteorological satellites, consider whether commercial capabilities could meet those needs; and
  • continue to meet international meteorological agreements, including practices set forth through World Meteorological Organization Resolution 40

The bill authorizes $6 million per year for FY2017-2020 for the commercial weather data pilot program. 

The FY2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act provided $3 million for NOAA to initiate a commercial weather data pilot program and it is progressing already, with two contracts awarded in September 2016.  NOAA requested $5 million for FY2017; Congress has not completed action on FY2017 appropriations bills. 

H.R. 353 is an authorization bill that officially authorizes the activity and recommends future year funding.   (Not sure of the difference between an authorization and an appropriation?  See our “What’s a Markup?” Fact Sheet.)

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK), vice chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology (SS&T) Committee, and has 5 Republican and 1 Democratic co-sponsors. Among the co-sponsors are Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), who has chaired the House SS&T’s Environment Subcommittee for several years, and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), who has been the top Democrat on that subcommittee. Both spoke in favor of the bill during debate on the House floor, as did House SS&T chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and ranking member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) submitted a statement.  The bill passed the House by voice vote.

Last Updated: Apr 19, 2017 10:28 pm ET
What's Happening in Space Policy January 16-20, 2017

What's Happening in Space Policy January 16-20, 2017

By Marcia Smith | Posted: January 15, 2017 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: January 15, 2017 12:05 pm ET

Here is our list of space policy events for the week of January 16-20, 2017 and any insight we can offer about them.   The Senate will be in session most of the week; the House will be in session only on Friday.

During the Week

The workweek begins on Monday with a federal holiday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) and ends on Friday with the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of the United States.  Friday is not a federal holiday, but government offices and many businesses in the Washington, DC area will be closed.  Word of warning if you’re coming to DC for any reason this week: the security folks are going to start closing roads on WEDNESDAY in preparation for Friday’s inaugural activities.  Federal workers in DC are being encouraged by the Office of Personnel Management to telework Wednesday and Thursday because it’s going to be very difficult to get around town those days, never mind Friday or Saturday (when protests will continue, including the Women’s March on Washington). 

Trump will be sworn in at noon on Friday (January 20) and at that point President Obama’s political appointees lose their jobs unless they’ve been specifically asked to stay on.  At NASA, Administrator Charlie Bolden and Deputy Administrator Dava Newman are leaving, and Robert Lightfoot, the top NASA civil servant, will become Acting Administrator.   (Lightfoot will be speaking at the Maryland Space Business Roundtable in Greenbelt, MD on Tuesday.)   Another Obama political appointee, Chief Financial Officer David Radzanowski, has been ask to stay for a while, however.  We’re trying to get information from NOAA on who will be in charge there at 12:01 pm ET. 

No announcements have been made by the Trump transition team as to who they plan to put in place permanently at NASA or NOAA, although there are widespread rumors that Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) is a top candidate for NASA Administrator.  He has been very active legislatively in DOD, NOAA, and FAA space issues (he chairs the Environment Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee and is a member of the House Armed Services Committee), but not much with NASA.  He is an advocate of creating a legal and regulatory environment that facilitates the emergence of new commercial space activities, expanding the role of the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation to include non-military space situational awareness and authorizing in-space activities (not just launch and reentry), and promoting public private partnerships.  He spearheaded the creation of the commercial weather data pilot programs at NOAA and DOD, but stresses they are in addition to, not instead of, the government’s own weather satellites.  His is not the only name circulating as potential Administrator, and he also has been mentioned as a candidate for Secretary of the Air Force, however, so this is not a sure bet.  Stay tuned.

At DOD, Secretary of Defense (SecDef) Ash Carter and Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James (and presumably the other service secretaries) are leaving.  Trump has announced plans to nominate Gen. James Mattis (USMC, Ret.), 66, as SecDef and the Senate Armed Services Committee has already held his nomination hearing.  Space activities did not come up during the open hearing.  The committee gave him a set of written questions in advance and four were about space, but were not very newsworthy (they are posted on the committee’s website).  The Senate and House passed legislation last week allowing him to serve as SecDef even though he retired only 3 years ago and the law requires a 7-year separation.  President Obama is expected to sign the bill, clearing the way for Mattis to be confirmed as soon as Trump takes office.  Literally.  Confirmation votes are expected in the Senate Friday afternoon. 

The Senate will continue confirmation hearings this week.  Among them are the hearing for Wilbur Ross Jr. to be Secretary of Commerce.  The 79-year old billionaire is an investor, company turn-around specialist, and former banker.  What views he may hold on NOAA or its satellite activities are unknown.  Last week, the Senate Commerce Committee held the nomination hearing for Elaine Chao, 63, to be Secretary of Transportation and it was clear she was not yet up to speed on that department’s space-related responsibilities.   Which is hardly surprising in either case.  Both Commerce and Transportation have very broad portfolios. Space is a minor part of what they do.

By the end of the week, Mattis, Ross and Chao are likely to be confirmed by the Senate for their new positions. Though some of Trump’s nominee-designates are controversial, these three do not seem to be among them.  Chao has experience in leading federal agencies already, having served as Deputy Secretary of Transportation under President George H.W. Bush and Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush.  Mattis has a long and distinguished military career and was most recently Commander of U.S. Central Command, so clearly has strong leadership skills, but has not run a federal agency.  Rumors are that Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work is being asked to stay for a few months to ease the transition.  Ross has led businesses, but has no prior government experience (which is not uncommon for Cabinet-level positions).  It is interesting to note that outgoing Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker recommended in her “exit memo” that the Commerce Department be “streamlined” into a “Department of Business” as President Obama proposed in 2012, with NOAA and other parts of Commerce transferred elsewhere (NOAA would have gone to the Department of the Interior).  With his business focus, one wonders if Ross might advocate for the same thing.

Frank Kendall, the outgoing Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, will give his final speech in that position on Tuesday at CSIS where he will talk about (and sign) his new book “Getting Defense Acquisition Right.”  Will be interesting to hear what he says about acquisition of space systems, which is expected to be a major topic in Congress this year.  The event will be webcast.

On Wednesday, NASA and NOAA will release the latest annual data on global temperatures and discuss the most important climate trends of 2016.  That will be done via a media teleconference call.  Anyone may listen and see the associated graphics on the NASA Live website (formerly NASA News Audio).

European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Jan Woerner will hold his annual press breakfast at ESA HQ in Paris on Wednesday morning.  It’s a bit early in the United States (3:00-5:00 am Eastern), but ESA often posts the webcast for later viewing on its website.

Those and other events we know about as of Sunday morning are shown below.  Check back throughout the week for ones we hear about later and add to our Events of Interest list.

Monday, January 16

  • U.S. Federal Holiday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)

Tuesday, January 17

Wednesday, January 18

Wednesday-Friday, January 18-20

Friday, January 20

Last Updated: Jan 15, 2017 12:05 pm ET
Progress MS-04 Failure Probably Due to Foreign Particles in Oxidizer Pump

Progress MS-04 Failure Probably Due to Foreign Particles in Oxidizer Pump

By Marcia Smith | Posted: January 11, 2017 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: January 11, 2017 10:15 pm ET

The Russian commission investigating the December 1, 2016 failure of the Progress MS-04 cargo spacecraft launch has concluded that foreign particles in the third stage engine’s oxidizer pump may have been the cause.  Defective workmanship is suspected.  The next Progress launch is currently scheduled for February 21, 2017.

Progress MS-04 was the fourth of the newest generation of Russian cargo spacecraft used to resupply space stations.  The first Progress was launched in 1978 to support the Soviet Union’s Salyut 6 space station.  Dozens have been launched since then to support Salyut 6, Salyut 7, Mir and the International Space Station (ISS).  The vehicle’s design has evolved over the decades and given updated designations: Progress, Progress-M, Progress M_M, and now Progress MS.  The first of the MS series was launched on December 21, 2015.

Filled with 2.6 tons of food, water, supplies, and fuel, Progress MS-04 was launched on December 1, 2016, but something went awry 382 seconds after liftoff during the firing of the third stage.  A usually reliable Soyuz-U rocket launched the spacecraft and initial indications were that the third stage and the spacecraft separately prematurely. Debris from both fell in Russia’s Tuva Republic, although most reportedly burned up in the atmosphere.

Today’s statement from Russia’s space state corporation Roscosmos and an associated story in TASS said the third stage’s oxidizer pump caught fire resulting in its destruction and release of fragments that ripped the engine open. The oxidizer pump “may have caught fire for various reasons, such as the likely presence of foreign particles or violation of the engine 11D55’s assembly procedures…..Defective workmanship manifested itself in flight…”

A plan will be presented soon on “priority measures” to be taken in the space industry to ensure that the next launch, Progress MS-05, is successful, TASS said. 

On January 1, TASS reported that three Progress spacecraft would be launched to the ISS in 2017 on the following dates:  February 2, June 14 and October 12.  Today it reported that the February 2 date has slipped to February 21.

Russia launches several variants of the Soyuz rocket.  This launch involved the Soyuz-U, while other Progress spacecraft have been launched on the newer Soyuz 2-1a, including the failed Progress M-27M launch in April 2015.  It is not clear which of those two will be used for Progress MS-05.

Soyuz is also the name of the spacecraft that takes crews to and from the International Space Station. Those Soyuz spacecraft are launched on the Soyuz-FG version of the rocket.   It is expected that Russia will wait for a successful Progress MS-05 launch before attempting to launch another crew.  In its January 1 story, TASS said that Soyuz spacecraft would be launched on March 27, May 29, September 12 and October 26.  Whether those dates hold remains to be seen.

Russia is the only country capable of launching crews to the ISS today.  The United States has not been able to launch people into space since it terminated the space shuttle program in 2011.

By contrast, Russia is only one of the ISS partners capable of sending cargo to the ISS.  The United States and Japan both launch cargo spacecraft. NASA relies on two companies, Orbital ATK and SpaceX, to deliver cargo on their Cygnus and Dragon spacecraft, respectively.  The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launches its HTV (Kounotori) cargo spacecraft to ISS.  HTV6 is currently berthed there.

Last Updated: Jan 11, 2017 10:15 pm ET
Satellite Export Controls Get Another Update, JWST No Longer Under ITAR

Satellite Export Controls Get Another Update, JWST No Longer Under ITAR

By Marcia Smith | Posted: January 11, 2017 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: January 11, 2017 11:38 pm ET

The Departments of Commerce and State announced more changes to the regulations that govern satellite exports yesterday. The new rules affect a range of activities from commercial remote sensing satellites to human spacecraft to the James Webb Space Telescope and become effective on January 15, 2017.

After more than a decade of battling stringent export controls that many in the satellite industry claimed hampered U.S. efforts to compete on the global stage, a substantial victory was won in 2014 when many commercial satellite items were moved from the State Department’s U.S. Munitions List (USML) and its International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to the Department of Commerce’s Commerce Control List (CCL) of dual-use technologies governed by the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

Still, there were remaining matters to be settled, several of which were addressed in yesterday’s announcement.  A summary published by NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce includes the following:

  • increases the aperture thresholds for control of remote sensing satellites and components;
  • eliminates controls based on whether a spacecraft supports human habitation, but such spacecraft may be controlled by other criteria;
  • redefines several controls based on technical capabilities rather than end use of the spacecraft;
  • removes and replaces confusing criteria concerning integrated propulsion and attitude control;
  • adds thresholds for controls on electric propulsion systems; and
  • clarifies various ambiguities.

A quick glance at the new rules as published in the Federal Register (the Office of Space Commerce website has links) provides additional details:

  • The aperture limits for commercial electro-optical remote sensing satellites will be raised from 0.35m to 0.50m, which is still short of the 1.1m requested by some of the commenters; and
  • ITAR controls on electric propulsion systems are for those that provide greater than 300 milli-Newtons of thrust and a specific impulse greater than 1,500 sec, or operate at an input power of more than 15kW.

Another interesting decision is that NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is being moved to the CCL.  “A determination was made … that this specific telescope … did not warrant being subject to the ITAR.”   The change includes parts, components, accessories and attachments that are specially designed for use in or for JWST.   JWST is NASA’s next major space telescope.  In many ways it is a follow-on to the Hubble Space Telescope and is scheduled for launch on a European Ariane rocket in 2018.

Last Updated: Jan 11, 2017 11:38 pm ET

SPACEPOLICYONLINE.COM

About | Contact | Privacy