Here is our list of upcoming space policy events for the week of May 19-25, 2014 and any insight we can offer about them.   The House and Senate are in the session this week.

During the Week

As the country gets ready to celebrate Memorial Day and honor those who gave their lives defending our country, Congress will be acting on the authorization bill for the Department of Defense (DOD).   The FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will go before the House Rules Committee on Monday and Tuesday, with floor action expected later in the week.  Meanwhile the Senate Armed Services Committee (and its subcommittees) will be busy marking up its version of the bill. The DOD authorization bill is the only authorization bill that reliably gets passed year after year despite the many controversies therein.  A big issue this year, of course, is what to do about Russia’s threat to stop providing RD-180 engines for the Atlas V rocket.  The House wants to add about $200 million to start a U.S. program to build a new liquid rocket engine to replace it.  The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) will be debating it during markups this week.

Also on tap in the House this week is the FY2015 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill, which cleared committee on May 8.  It includes funding for NASA and NOAA.  NASA is slated to get a significant increase ($435 million) compared to the President’s request.   Appropriations being a zero sum game, that means other agencies in the CJS bill got less than the President requested.   Time will tell whether champions of the activities that were cut offer amendments to take money from what is recommended for NASA and restore it to the other programs.  NOAA’s satellite programs did comparatively well, though not its strategy for launching three sensors that do not fit on the JPSS spacecraft.  Last year Congress zeroed the “Polar Free Flyer” program and told NOAA to try again.  This year, it is the SIDAR program and House Appropriations zeroed it, too.

Other big events are — in the United States — the Space Foundation’s annual Space Symposium (formerly the National Space Symposium) in Colorado Springs, CO, and — In Europe — the Berlin Air Show in Berlin, Germany.

Lots of other interesting activities as well.  Here is the list of what we know about as of Sunday afternoon.

Monday, May 19

• House Rules Committee meets to formulate rule for the FY2015 CJS appropriations bill, H-313 Capitol 5:00 pm ET

Monday-Tuesday, May 19-20

• House Rules Committee meets to formulate rule for the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), H-313 Capitol
• Monday (general debate), 5:00 pm ET
• Tuesday (amendments), 3:00 pm ET

Monday-Thursday, May 19-22

• Space Symposium, Colorado Springs, CO

Tuesday-Wednesday, May 20-21

• Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) subcommittee markups FY2015 NDAA (Strategic Forces is on May 20 at 2:00), various times and rooms, all meetings are CLOSED
• NASA Advisory Council (NAC) Planetary Protection Subcommittee, NASA HQ, Washington, DC

Tuesday-Sunday, May 20-25

• ILA Berlin Air Show, Berlin, Germany

Wednesday, May 21

• House Appropriations Committee full committee markup FY2015 Transportation-HUD bill (includes FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation), 2359 Rayburn House Office Building, 10:00 am ET
• House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing on Astrobiology and the Search for Life in the Universe, 2318 Rayburn House Office Building, 10:00 am ET

Wednesday-Friday, May 21-23

• SASC full committee markup FY2015 NDAA, 222 Russell, various times, all meetings are CLOSED

In a speech on the Senate floor yesterday (May 14), Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) said that the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) will take up the issue of how to respond to Russia’s declaration that its RD-180 rocket engines cannot be used for launching U.S. military spacecraft when it marks up the FY2015 defense authorization bill next week.

SASC’s Strategic Forces subcommittee will markup its portion of the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on May 20 and the full committee will markup the bill over the subsequent three days (May 21-23).  All sessions of the markup are closed to the public.

Nelson took to the floor to provide a brief history of cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia in response to what he said were multiple questions by colleagues and the media.  Nelson has considerable expertise on space matters as chair of the Science and Space subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.  He also flew into space on a 1985 space shuttle mission when he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. 

What action SASC is contemplating was not mentioned.  Nelson laid out the issues and rued the fact that U.S.-Russian space cooperation is being impacted by geopolitical events since even during the Cold War the two countries managed to work together in space.  Citing the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) in particular, he noted that the leaders of the American and Russian crews, Gen. Tom Stafford (Ret.) and Gen. Alexei Leonov (Ret.), remain close friends today and are representative of the close ties between other American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts.  

Emphasizing the complexity of the issues posed if Russia bans sales of the RD-180 engines, he went on to explain that two of NASA’s commercial crew contenders, Boeing and Sierra Nevada, plan to use the Atlas V rocket for their CST-100 and Dream Chaser spacecraft. It is that rocket that uses Russia’s RD-180 engines and would be affected if Russia goes through with a threat issued by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin earlier this week to prohibit use of Russian rocket engines to launch U.S. military satellites.  While those are not military satellites, Nelson is worried that the ban could affect civilian launches, too. 

Rogozin’s threat was not only about the RD-180 engines for the Atlas V, but also Russia’s NK-33 engines used by Orbital Sciences Corporation for its Antares rockets.   Orbital has a large supply of those engines already in the United States that are refurbished by Aerojet Rocketdyne and redesignated AJ-26.  Antares currently is used only for NASA missions and since Orbital already has the engines here, it is not clear that Rozogin’s threats would disrupt those activities.

The Air Force has a study underway to examine options in case the RD-180s no longer are available. The United Launch Alliance (ULA), which produces and launches Atlas V, says that it has a two-year supply of those engines and could, if necessary, shift satellites to the more expensive Delta IV, which has American-made engines.  Nelson said that the topic “will be an issue” when SASC marks up the NDAA next week and if Rogozin follows through with the threat “we’re going to have to swing into action pretty quick.”

The House Armed Services Committee added about $200 million to the FY2015 Air Force budget to begin development of a new U.S. liquid rocket engine to replace the RD-180 when it marked up its version of the bill.   (The HASC Strategic Forces subcommittee added $220 million, which the full committee approved, but it also reduced that subaccount, Aerospace Propulsion, by $23 million for “liquid rocket engine combustion technologies and advanced liquid engine technologies.”)

Rogozin made his comments in response to sanctions imposed on him and other Russian government officials because of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.  He also said that Russia will have to think about whether to agree with NASA’s plans to extend operations of the International Space Station (ISS) beyond 2020.  He did say, however, that Russia needs the ISS until 2020, suggesting that there are no plans to impact ISS operations before then.   Indeed, three ISS crew members returned to Earth on Tuesday and three more are scheduled for launch on May 28.  Russia is the only country currently capable of transporting crews to and from the ISS since the United States terminated the space shuttle program in 2011.

The State Department and Commerce Department issued interim final rules revising satellite export controls yesterday (May 13, 2014).   The long-awaited revisions to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) will allow easier export of commercial satellites to most countries.

The reforms are part of a broader Obama Administration-led Export Control Reform Initiative intended to make American companies more competitive in international markets.

Draft rules were released last year, allowing interested parties to comment on the planned changes.  The rules released yesterday reflect the input that was received and will remain “interim final rules” for the next six months to allow additional comments.  The State Department’s interim final rule and the Commerce Department’s companion revisions are published in the May 13, 2014 Federal Register.   The two departments share responsibility for export controls. The State Department oversees exports of ITAR-controlled items on the U.S. Munitions List (USML).  The Commerce Department regulates “dual-use” items under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).   Items on the USML are much more closely guarded than those on the EAR because of their greater potential military applications.

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) praised the export control reforms, but expressed concern that “almost all commercial human spacecraft” remain on the USML.  CSF President Michael Lopez-Alegria said that while yesterday’s actions should be applauded, “there is still much progress to be made on commercial spacecraft. … We thank the Administration for their work on this critical issue and look forward to continued revisions to ensure the U.S. remains a leader in spaceflight.”  CSF advocates for commercial human spaceflight.

The Satellite Industry Association (SIA), a trade association of commercial satellite operators, service providers, manufacturers, launch service providers, and ground equipment suppliers, hailed the reforms.  SIA President Patricia Cooper said that “With a more modern regulatory environment for exports in place, we look forward to unleashing the full force of American ingenuity and innovation at work in the international market.”

Similarly, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) congratulated the government for the reforms.  AIA, which represents the U.S. aerospace industry, estimated in 2012 that U.S. manufacturers lost $21 billion in revenue between 1999 and 2009 because of the strict limits placed on exports of commercial satellites in 1999.

Congress imposed the limits in 1999 after a congressional investigation (the Cox Committee) determined that China had gained militarily-important information by launching U.S.-manufactured commercial communications satellites.  Such satellites had been moved from State Department to Commerce Department control under the George H.W. Bush and Clinton Administrations.  In 1999, Congress moved them back to the State Department’s Munitions List and removed the presidential authority to determine which department had control over them — only Congress could make that determination.   The satellite industry immediately began its attempts to return the satellites to Commerce Department control, which now have finally reached fruition after Congress changed the law in 2012.  Exports to China, however, remain prohibited.