Category: Space Law

House Appropriators Propose Substantial Increase for NASA, Including Europa

House Appropriators Propose Substantial Increase for NASA, Including Europa

By Marcia Smith | Posted: April 29, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: May 7, 2014 8:02 am ET

The House Appropriations Committee released a draft of the FY2015 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) bill that will be marked up by the CJS subcommittee tomorrow (April 30).   It proposes a substantial increase for NASA compared to the President’s request and funding for a robotic mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa would be one beneficiary of the increased spending.

The subcommittee draft recommendation for NASA is $17,896 million, $435 million above the President’s request of $17,461 million.  It is about $250 million more than NASA’s current (FY2014) appropriated level of $17,647 million.

The draft bill provides little detail of the changes the subcommittee wants, but it has a few specifics, including increases compared to the President’s request for the Europa mission, aeronautics, Orion, and the Space Launch System (SLS), and decreases compared to the request for space technology, exploration ground systems, and space operations.

The bill does not specify how much money would be allocated to
commercial crew, one of the more controversial aspects of NASA’s budget
request, or for the International Space Station.

More information on how the subcommittee wants NASA to spend the money typically is contained in the report to accompany the bill, which usually is not publicly released until after the full committee marks up the bill.   Tomorrow’s action is markup at the subcommittee level; the date for full committee markup has not been announced.

The draft bill continues the cap on development funding for the James Webb Space Telescope at $8 billion as well as the prohibition on NASA or the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from spending funds related to space cooperation with China unless certain conditions are met.

The draft is just that, a draft.  It is a first step towards providing FY2015 funding for NASA and other agencies (including NOAA) covered by the bill.  Subcommittee markup must be followed by full committee markup and then passage by the House.  The Senate will produce its own version of the bill using a similar process.  Eventually the two sides of Capitol Hill must agree and the President must sign it.  Whether they complete the process by the beginning of FY2015 on October 1, 2014 is always chancy.

The funding figures in the House CJS subcommittee draft bill are as follows

  • Science:   $5,193 million.  That is $221 million more than the President requested, and $42 million more than the FY2014 amount.  Of the $5,193 million, $100 million is for the Europa mission.  The President requested $15 million for FY2015.   The President requested zero for Europa in FY2013 and FY2014, but Congress appropriated $75 million in FY2013 (subject to rescissions and the sequester, which left about $69 million) and $80 million in FY2014.
  • Aeronautics:  $666 million.  That is $115 million more than the President requested, and $100 million more than the FY2014 amount.
  • Space Technology:  $620 million.  That is $85.5 million less than the President requested, but $44 million more than the FY2014 amount.
  • Exploration:  $4,167 million.  That is $191 million more than the President requested, and $54 million more than the FY2014 amount.  Of the $4,167 million — 
    • $1,140 million is for Orion, which is $87 million more than the President requested, but $57 million less than the FY2014 amount.
    • $1,600 for development of the Space Launch System (SLS), which is $220 million more than the President requested, and the same as the FY2014 amount.
    • $315 million for Exploration Ground Systems, which is $36 million less than the President requested, and $3 million less than the FY2014 amount.
    • Specific amounts are not provided for commercial crew and exploration R&D, the other two components of this budget category.
      • The President requested $848.3 million for commercial
        crew and $343.4 million for exploration R&D, a total of $1,191.7
        million. 
      • Designated funding for Orion, SLS and exploration ground
        systems in the draft bill totals $3,055 million, leaving $1,112 million
        for commercial crew and exploration R&D.  How they plan to split
        that funding may become clearer tomorrow during subcommittee markup.
  • Space Operations:  $3,885 million.  That is $20 million less than the President requested, but $107 million more than the FY2014 amount.  The figure is not broken down to show how much is for the International Space Station and how much for Space and Flight Support.
  • Education:  $106 million, which is $17 million more than the President requested, but $10.6 million less than the FY2014 amount.  The bill specifies that of the $106 million, $9 million is for EPSCoR and $30 million is for Space Grant.
  • Safety, Security and Mission Services:  $2,779 million. This is a new name for a budget category labeled Cross Agency Support in the NASA budget request; it more accurately describes what activities the money supports.   The draft bill proposes the same amount as the President’s request, which is $14 million less than the FY2014 amount.
  • Construction, Environmental Compliance and Restoration (CECR):  $446 million.   That is the same as the President’s request, and $69 million less than the FY2014 amount.
  • Inspector General:  $34 million. That is $3 million less than the President’s request, and $3.5 million less than the FY2014 amount.

Since these are draft numbers, we are not yet updating our fact sheet on NASA’s FY2015 budget request, but will do so when the bill completes full committee markup.

Note:  An earlier version of this article mistakenly compared the amount recommended by the subcommittee for Exploration Ground Systems to the FY2014 appropriated amount.  The subcommittee’s recommendation of $315 million is $3 million less than the $318 million appropriated.

Last Updated: May 07, 2014 8:02 am ET
Rogozin Warns Sanctions Could Boomerang, Suggests Trampoline for Sending Astronauts to ISS

Rogozin Warns Sanctions Could Boomerang, Suggests Trampoline for Sending Astronauts to ISS

By Marcia Smith | Posted: April 29, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: April 29, 2014 4:56 pm ET

Statements attributed to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin appear to be the first public linkage between tensions over Ukraine and the future of U.S. astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).  U.S. officials have repeatedly insisted that the ISS would not be affected by the deterioration in U.S.-Russian relations.  This appears to be the first public statement by a Russian official.

Russia’s Interfax news agency reportedly quoted Rogozin as saying that “Sanctions are always a boomerang which come back and painfully hit those who launched them.”  He also reportedly said that if the aim of new sanctions imposed by the Obama Administration yesterday are intended “to deliver a blow to Russia’s rocket-building sector, then by default they would be exposing their astronauts on the ISS.”  The Obama Administration announced restrictions on exports to Russia yesterday for items on the U.S. Munitions List — which includes commercial satellites — if they might aid Russia’s military.  Details were not provided.

Rogozin’s comments were in Russian and English translations were reported by a number of western news outlets, some of which also cited remarks along the same lines on Rogozin’s Russian-language Twitter account.  Alan Boyle of NBC News reports that Rogozin suggested via Twitter that the United States “bring their astronauts to the International Space Station using a trampoline.”

The United States and the other non-Russian partners in the ISS have had to rely on Russian Soyuz rockets and spacecraft to get back and forth to the ISS on a routine basis since the space shuttle was terminated in 2011.  The ISS crews also must rely on the Soyuz spacecraft as “lifeboats” in case they need to evacuate the station in an emergency.   Today, there are three Russians, two Americans and one Japanese aboard the ISS.  NASA continues to report that all is well there.   Russia and the United States jointly operate the ISS and it would extremely difficult for one to operate it without the other.

The United States, Europe, Japan and Canada — all partners in the ISS — each announced new sanctions against Russia in the past two days because of its activities in Ukraine.  CNN has a handy list of the individuals and entities that have been sanctioned so far.  None appears to be directly related to space station activities other than Rogozin himself, who was among the first group of Russians sanctioned by the United States in March.   As noted, the Obama Administration also is restricting exports to Russia that might aid Russia’s military.  It also instructed NASA to limit its cooperation with Russia other than for activities that are exempted, such as ISS.

Congressional actions are also reflecting the current tensions.  The House Armed Services Committee’s Strategic Forces subcommittee is preparing to mark up its section of the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act tomorrow.  Among other things, it plans to provide $220 million to DOD to develop an American-built liquid rocket engine to replace the Russian RD-180 engines used for Atlas V rockets.  Instead of referring to “Russian” engines, though, the language refers to “non-allied.”  The bill also requires a report from DOD assessing threats to U.S. space operations especially from China and Russia.

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), who chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA, said in a speech yesterday, that the United States is facing “real competition in space” not only from China, but “for the first time since the end of the Cold War, an overtly hostile Russia that is threatening our allies in Europe.”

Last Updated: Apr 29, 2014 4:56 pm ET
U.S. Imposes New Russian Sanctions Including Restricting Export Licenses – UPDATE

U.S. Imposes New Russian Sanctions Including Restricting Export Licenses – UPDATE

By Marcia Smith | Posted: April 28, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: April 28, 2014 11:06 pm ET

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney released a statement this morning (April 28, 2014) announcing that additional sanctions are being placed on Russia because of the situation in Ukraine.  Asset freezes on 17 Russian companies and export license restrictions are among the new sanctions.

The statement is general so it is not clear at this point whether any of the actions will affect space-related activities.  The relevant part of the statement is as follows:

“The Department of the Treasury is imposing sanctions on seven Russian government officials, including two members of President Putin’s inner circle, who will be subject to an asset freeze and a U.S. visa ban, and 17 companies linked to Putin’s inner circle, which will be subject to an asset freeze.  In addition, the Department of Commerce has imposed additional restrictions on 13 of those companies by imposing a license requirement with a presumption of denial for the export, re-export or other foreign transfer of U.S.-origin items to the companies.  Further, today the Departments of Commerce and State have announced a tightened policy to deny export license applications for any high-technology items that could contribute to Russia’s military capabilities.  Those Departments also will revoke any existing export licenses that meet these conditions.”

Later in the day, the White House released a transcript of a telephone briefing in which a few — but not many — details were provided.  Two members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle were sanctioned and 17 “entities” that are “affiliated with the oligarchs we designated a few weeks ago, on March 20, including the Rotenberg brothers and Gennady Timchenko.”

Perhaps of more direct important to space activities are export restrictions.  A “senior administration official” says that export license applications at both the Department of State and Department of Commerce have been on hold since the beginning of March and they are being scrutinized to “see which ones involve technology that the Russian defense industrial complex is in need of, and those are the ones that will be denied.”  Microelectronics was cited as one example.

Meanwhile, the State Department said that “effective immediately” the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will “deny pending applications for export or re-export of any high-technology defense articles or services regulated under the U.S. Munitions List … that contribute to Russia’s military capabilities.”  It also will revoke any existing licenses that meet those conditions.    Other pending applications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. 

The Obama Administration is in the process of updating export control regulations on commercial satellites, but at the moment they remain on the U.S. Munitions List.   Several Russian rockets, including Proton, Soyuz, Zenit (which is partially Ukrainian), and Dnepr, are used to launch satellites that are manufactured in the United States or contain U.S. components.  Whether the Administration deems them to “contribute to Russia’s military capabilities” is an open question.  Two other interesting facets of the issue are that  International Launch Services (ILS), which markets the Proton rocket commercially, is a U.S.-based company, and the Soyuz rocket is launched not only from Russia, but from Europe’s Kourou launch site in South America a part of a European-Russian arrangement.  The United States wants to present a united front with Europe in imposing sanctions, but Europe has not announced its plans yet.

Note:  this article was updated at 11:00 pm ET on April 28, 2014.

Last Updated: Apr 28, 2014 11:06 pm ET
What's Happening in Space Policy: April 28-May 2, 2014

What's Happening in Space Policy: April 28-May 2, 2014

By Marcia Smith | Posted: April 27, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: April 27, 2014 10:58 am ET

Here is our list of space policy-related events for the upcoming week and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate will be back in session after a two-week spring break with a full agenda of NASA, NOAA and national security space decisions on tap.

During the Week

House committees and subcommittees will be making decisions on budgets and policy for the nation’s space program this week as they mark up appropriations and authorization legislation. (Not sure what a markup is?  Or the difference between an authorization and an appropriation? See our fact sheet:  What’s a Markup?  Answers to That and Other Mysteries of the Legislative Process.)

Customarily the House acts on appropriations legislation before the Senate, and, indeed, the Senate Appropriations CJS subcommittee is still holding hearings on FY2015 budget requests for the agencies under its jurisdiction.  Its hearing on NASA’s request is on Thursday. 

Also of interest is a House SS&T Environment Subcommittee hearing on NOAA’s FY2015 budget request on Wednesday.

NASA is engaged in a full court press to articulate the outline of the agency’s plan on sending humans to Mars and how the Asteroid Redirect Mission fits into it.   After meeting with the NASA Advisory Counci a week and a half ago and participating in a three-day Humans 2 Mars summit at George Washington University last week, NASA will hold its own public “exploration forum” at NASA Headquarters on Tuesday afternoon (interestingly, the House SS&T committee is marking up the NASA authorization bill at the same time, which, we imagine, is entirely coincidental).

Lots of other interesting events are scheduled, including a symposium on Capitol Hill sponsored by the American Astronautical Society on Thursday highlighting science experiments conducted on the International Space Station and Women in Aerospace’s annual conference on Wednesday featuring top government officials including Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James.

Here’s the list of everything we know about as of Sunday morning.

Tuesday, April 29

Wednesday, April 30


Thursday, May 1

Last Updated: Apr 27, 2014 10:58 am ET
What's Happening in Space Policy: April 21-27, 2014

What's Happening in Space Policy: April 21-27, 2014

By Marcia Smith | Posted: April 20, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: April 21, 2014 5:04 pm ET

Here is our list of space policy-related events for the upcoming week and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate remain in recess; they will return April 28.

During the Week

The three-day Humans to Mars Summit 2014 at George Washington University has an all-star lineup of speakers including NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Technology Mike Gazarik, and NASA Ames Center Director Pete Worden.   NASA put out its own press release about the event to let everyone know Bolden will “outline NASA’s human exploration path to Mars” during his keynote address on Tuesday at 9:00 am ET. 

Tuesday is Earth Day.  A chance to celebrate our home planet.   NASA is sponsoring activities all week online and in various locations around the country.  The B612 Foundation chose Earth Day to release “video of data from nuclear-test-ban-organization showing multiple atomic bomb scale asteroid impacts on Earth since 2001.”  Their press conference will be livestreamed from the Seattle Museum of Flight at 11:30 am Pacific (2:30 pm Eastern).

Here’s a list of all the events we know about as of Sunday afternoon.

Monday-Saturday, April 21-27

Tuesday, April 22

  • Earth Day. Celebrate your home planet!  Check local news outlets for announcements of local events.
  • B612 Press Conference, Seattle Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, 11:30 am Pacfic Time (2:30 pm ET), will be livestreamed
    [B612 tweeted on April 21 that this begins at 11:00 am PT, but the press release and B612’s website say 11:00 am PT]   

    • B612 is also co-sponsoring an evening event at the museum, from 6:00 – 7:15 pm PT

Tuesday-Thursday, April 22-24

  • Humans to Mars Summit 2014, George Washington University, Washington, DC, will be livestreamed and broadcast on NASA TV (at least portions will be).  (The conference is in different buildings on the various days; consult the agenda for details)

Wednesday, April 23

Last Updated: Apr 21, 2014 5:04 pm ET
House Subcommittee Approves New Version of NASA Bill – No Prohibition on ARM

House Subcommittee Approves New Version of NASA Bill – No Prohibition on ARM

By Marcia Smith | Posted: April 9, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: April 11, 2014 6:20 pm ET

The Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee (SS&T) this morning approved a revised version of a new NASA authorization bill, H.R. 4412.   The text adopted today contains significant differences from what was posted on the committee’s website yesterday.  Among the changes for NASA’s human spaceflight program: this version does not prohibit spending on development of the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) and a requirement is added for an independent analysis of the Mars 2021 flyby mission championed by House SS&T committee chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX).

The version adopted today is called an “amendment in the nature of a substitute” or a “manager’s amendment” that replaces the previous text.  Subcommittee Chairman Steve Palazzo (R-MS) and ranking member Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD) lauded each other for their ability to reach “true bipartisan agreement” on the text, but both agreed that more work needs to be done to “strengthen” the bill before it takes the next step — markup before the full committee.  No date was announced for full committee markup.  (Not sure what a “markup” is?  See our fact sheet:  What’s a Markup? — Answer’s to That and Other Legislative Mysteries.) 

Two sections Palazzo specifically mentioned as in need of more work concern Space Act Agreements and Advanced Booster Competition.  Edwards noted that she wants a bill that covers more years; the funding recommendations in this bill are only for one year (FY2014, already underway).  She also wants more discussion about NASA’s education and Earth science activities “and a range of other topics.”

The tone of the markup today was completely different from last year, which took place amid intense partisan discord throughout Capitol Hill.  At that time Palazzo and Edwards had completely different bills.  Edwards’ bill was rejected on a party-line vote and Palazzo’s bill was approved on a party-line vote.   The bill never moved out of committee, however.   Instead, the process is starting anew this year and bipartisanship is the watchword.   Only one dissenting voice was heard at the subcommittee markup today, that of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), who objects to the bill’s focus on the goal of landing humans on Mars.   The bill was approved by voice vote, and it did not appear that any “nays” were spoken, so his objections apparently were not sufficient to cause him to vote against the bill.

In their remarks, Palazzo and Edwards highlighted the human spaceflight sections of the bill which require NASA to submit to Congress an “exploration roadmap” that clearly states that the goal of the human spaceflight program is landing people on Mars and outlining the steps to achieve that goal.  Palazzo said the bill “makes absolutely clear that NASA’s goal for the human space flight program should be to send humans to Mars.  It is also the Committee’s intent to be clear that proposals that cannot be proven essential to a Mars mission be removed from this portfolio.”   

That probably is a reference to ARM, which committee Republicans opposed as recently as yesterday’s version of this bill.  However, the revised version approved today omits the section that would have prohibited NASA from spending money on developing ARM.  Instead it requires NASA to submit more details about the mission.  Whether or not ARM is essential to sending people to Mars is a matter of opinion.  NASA asserts that ARM is essential to that goal because it will take place in cis-lunar space (between the Earth and Moon), a “proving ground” that is close enough to Earth for astronauts to return in an emergency.

Edwards agreed that Mars is the goal, but her take on the legislation is that it gives NASA the responsibility for “deciding the pathway forward” to get there.   The common denominator is that both Palazzo and Edwards want the exploration roadmap that will define specific capabilities and technologies needed to land people on Mars.  NASA is required to submit the plan within 180 days of when the bill become law.

Rohrabacher disagreed with the goal of landing humans on Mars, at least as it is envisioned in the bill.  He objected to tying the U.S. government space program so closely to such a goal.  He said the odds are that resources will be wasted: “When you try to cross a bridge too far, someone will get soaked” and it will be “the U.S. taxpayer.”

Other differences from yesterday’s version include the following:

  • The new version requires NASA to contract with an “independent, private systems engineering and technical assistance organization” to provide a technical assessment of the Mars 2021 Flyby mission concept that would send a crew to fly around Mars, after first flying around Venus to get a gravity assist, in 2021 on one of the first SLS flights.  The assessment is due to  NASA and Congress 60 days after the bill is signed into law.  Then, in another 60 days, NASA is required to send Congress an assessment by the NASA Advisory Council whether the mission is in the strategic interests of the United States. 
  • Edwards says in her prepared statement that the termination liability section of the bill no longer protects the four “covered programs” — SLS. Orion, ISS and JWST — from termination any differently from other NASA programs:  “These covered programs are no more protected than any other NASA program, nor should they be.” [CLARIFICATION:   Edwards was comparing the termination liability section of this bill to what was contained in H.R. 3625, marked up by the committee in December.  The NASA authorization bill considered by the committee last year contained a section on termination liability, but as the year progressed and it became apparent that congressional agreement on a NASA authorization bill would not be achieved soon, the termination liability language was extracted and introduced as a separate bill, H.R. 3625.  Section 2(e) of H.R. 3625 required congressional approval before NASA could terminate a covered program.  H.R. 3625 also did not progress out of committee, however, and now that a new NASA authorization bill is under consideration, the termination liability section has been restored.  The new language is different from what was approved in December.  Among the changes is omission of Section 2(e).]
  • Edwards also says the bill “unequivocally states that safety shall be the highest priority” in selecting and developing commercial crew systems.

Palazzo says in his statement that the bill seeks to limit U.S. dependence on Russia and “allows NASA to better focus its efforts on once more launching American astronauts on American rockers from American soil.” He also said it makes clear that SLS and Orion “are top priorities for Congress and the American people” as is the James Webb Space Telescope.

 

 

Last Updated: Apr 11, 2014 6:20 pm ET
Like Last Year, New House NASA Bill Prohibits Development of Asteroid Redirect Mission

Like Last Year, New House NASA Bill Prohibits Development of Asteroid Redirect Mission

By Marcia Smith | Posted: April 8, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: April 9, 2014 1:06 pm ET

A copy of the 2014 NASA authorization bill, H.R. 4412, that will be marked up by the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee tomorrow is posted on the committee’s website.   From a policy perspective, there seem to be only minor changes from the version approved by the committee last year, but a major sticking point — funding levels — seems to be resolved.

Last year’s bill was approved by the committee on a party line vote (11-9) on July 10, 2013.  The most contentious issue was the funding level in the bill — $16.865 billion for FY2014 compared to the $18.1 billion recommended in a Democratic alternative introduced by Rep. Donna Edwards.  NASA’s earth science program was particularly targeted for cuts — about one-third of its request.  The committee’s recommendations by budget line item are summarized in our fact sheet on NASA’s FY2014 budget request.

Funding recommendations are not likely to be an issue In the new bill.  It recommends funding for only one year, FY2014, which is already in progress and the funding levels are identical to appropriated amounts.  The only difference is that the authorization bill specifies how much of the funding in the Space Operations account is for the International Space Station (ISS) program — $2.984 billion.  The Consolidated Appropriations Act that includes NASA’s FY2014 funding did not break down how the $3.778 billion for Space Operations should be allocated.

This is not a comprehensive analysis, but a quick glance reveals only minor differences from a policy perspective. 

  • Like last year, the new bill would —
    • prohibit spending on development of the Asteroid Redirect (or Retrieval) Mission
    • establish a NASA Advisory Council, with members appointed by Congress, that would review the Administration’s proposed budget for NASA for the next fiscal year and provide advice to the President and Congress about it
    • change how NASA deals with termination of and termination liability for major programs
  • Conversely,
    the new bill — 

    • omits a provision that would have set a 6-year term for the NASA Administrator
    • adds a section requiring the NASA Administrator to report to Congress on the extent to which he is complying with the advice of the 2012 report of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel

The markup is at 9:00 am ET tomorrow morning, April 9, 2014, in 2318 Rayburn House Office Building.  Committee proceedings usually are webcast on the committee’s website.

Last Updated: Apr 09, 2014 1:06 pm ET
Space Policy Events for the Week of April 7-11, 2014 – UPDATE

Space Policy Events for the Week of April 7-11, 2014 – UPDATE

By Marcia Smith | Posted: April 6, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: April 8, 2014 7:52 am ET

UPDATE:  The room for Tuesday’s House Appropriations CJS subcommittee hearing on NASA has changed.  Now in 2359 Rayburn. 

The following events may be of interest in the week ahead.  The House and Senate are in session.

During the Week

It’s a busy week in Congress as they try to make progress on a number of legislative issues before going on their Passover/Easter break next week.  Not only are there a number of interesting congressional hearings on tap, but the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee will mark up a new NASA authorization bill on Wednesday, April 9.  The bill doesn’t have a number yet and the draft text is not posted on the committee’s website so far, but the true test will come during the markup to see what amendments are offered.  The markup begins at 9:00 am ET and only one hour is scheduled (there’s a hearing on a different topic in the same room that begins at 10:00 am), suggesting that little debate is expected.  Later that day, across Capitol Hill, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will mark up H.R. 2140 (Heinrich) at 2:30 pm ET.  Its purpose is to improve the transition between experimental permits and commercial licenses for commercial reusable vehicles.

As for hearings, of special note are the House Appropriations CJS hearing on NASA’s FY2015 budget request on Tuesday morning, which will also hear from former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh who chaired a study that looked at security (as in access by foreign nationals) at NASA’s centers.  The next day it has a hearing on the budget request for the Department of Commerce, which includes NOAA.  Also on Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee’s Science and Space subcommittee will hold a hearing on From Here to Mars that includes Susan Eisenhower among the witnesses.   On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations CJS subcommittee will hear from the Department of Commerce, and the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold its annual posture hearing on the Air Force, which probably will include more discussion of U.S. reliance on Russian rocket engines for the Atlas 5.

All of that is happening on Capitol Hill, but tomorrow (Monday, April 7), the action will be out at the University of Maryland conference center where Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) will speak to the Maryland Space Business Roundtable.  One of NASA’s biggest supporters in Congress, she is also one of the most powerful Senators as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee in addition to chairing the appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA and NOAA.

Here are the events we know about as of Sunday afternoon.

Monday, April 7

Tuesday, April 8

Wednesday, April 9

Thursday, April 10

 

Last Updated: Apr 08, 2014 7:52 am ET
White House, NASA Seek to Clarify U.S.-Russian Space Cooperation Status

White House, NASA Seek to Clarify U.S.-Russian Space Cooperation Status

By Marcia Smith | Posted: April 3, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: April 3, 2014 9:55 pm ET

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, White House science and technology policy official Richard DalBello, and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden all sought to clarify today whether or not NASA is still cooperating with Russia other than in operating the International Space Station (ISS).  At the end of the day, the best answer seems to be that it’s an evolving situation with no clear guidance other than that the ISS is not affected.

Yesterday, a memo from NASA’s Associate Administrator for International and Interagency Relations became public that instructs NASA personnel to suspend contacts with their Russian government counterparts except for activities related to operation of the ISS because of Russia’s annexation of Crimea.  The memo did not explain what stimulated the decision or offer many specifics about how it would impact NASA-Russia cooperation.   Hours later NASA issued an “official” statement that was announced via Twitter with a link to a Google+ webpage that was not helpful in explaining the situation.

The bottom line of the comments today is that the directive applies to all government agencies, not just NASA; that each agency will determine what activities are exempted or not on a case-by-case basis; and it is an evolving situation.  The unambiguous message is that operations of the ISS are not impacted.

Bolden spoke at a long-scheduled joint meeting of the National Research Council’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) and Space Studies Board (SSB) this morning.  He opened his remarks by addressing this issue and saying there was a “firestorm in Moscow,” which he blamed on the media and politics.

He said he spoke with his Russian counterpart, Roscosmos Director Oleg Ostapenko, this morning and both agreed that the ISS should be kept out of the political realm. That ISS is not included in this directive has been made clear since the beginning.  The question concerns other NASA activities with Russia.

NASA has not provided a list of non-ISS cooperation, but, for example, NASA uses Russian wind tunnels for aeronautics experiments and a Russian instrument – the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) – is on the Mars Curiosity rover.  The memo states that NASA personnel can attend multilateral meetings involving Russians as long as they take place outside of Russia, but two major international conferences – the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) and the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS) – both are scheduled to take place in Russia this year.  Whether NASA employees will be able to participate is unclear.

Bolden said this morning that his message to his employees is to keep doing whatever they are doing with Russia unless told to stop, including plans to participate in COSPAR (he did not address ICAS).

DalBello spoke to the ASEB/SSB meeting later in the day.  In response to a question, he stressed three points:  this is an evolving situation, it applies across the government, and the ISS is excluded.  He deferred to White House press spokesman Jay Carney as providing the official Administration guidance on the matter.

At his daily White House press briefing, Carney said the following, putting it in context of other U.S. actions with regard to Russia’s annexation of Crimea:

Given Russia’s ongoing violations of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, the U.S. government has taken a number of actions, to include curtailing official government-to-government contacts and meetings with the Russian Federation on a case-by-case basis consistent with U.S. national interests.  We’ve talked about this previously and as we’ve already said we’ve suspended bilateral discussions with Russia on trade and investment, we’ve suspended other bilateral meetings on a case-by-case basis, and put on hold U.S.- Russia military-to-military engagement including exercises, bilateral meetings, port visits and planning conferences.  We also will not meet with sanctioned individuals.  We have informed the Russian government of those meetings that have been suspended, as you know.  In terms of specific case-by-case decisions that are made in response to this broader directive, I would have to refer you to each agency.   In the case of NASA there are some actions being taken, but obviously with the space station, in particular, that program, and engagement with Russia on that program, continues.

The directive that created this guidance to NASA and other government agencies reportedly was issued by the White House National Security Council and is classified and therefore not in the public domain.

Bolden said that relations with Roscosmos are “good” and “healthy.”  As for the Russian government reaction more broadly, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin oversees Russia’s space sector.  He is one of the Russian individuals sanctioned by the Obama Administration on March 17, 2014 because of his role in the Ukrainian situation.  An English-language Twitter account purportedly belonging to him (@drogozin) carried this rather sarcastic message:

NASA suspends cooperation with Roscosmos (Rus Fed Space Agency) apart from work on the ISS http://t.co/IJ0Td5PjEe Yet, apart from over the ISS we didn’t cooperate with NASA anyway)

That account had a separate tweet about U.S. reliance on Russia’s RD-180 rocket engines:

A Russian broom for an American witch. Still, our engines are better) http://t.co/Xf4gM8bR7w

Russia&US go to space together for 50th time. Tomorrow US booster vehicle Atlas 5 equipped with Russian RD-180 engine will be launched across the ocean to carry a satellite

Indeed, the United Launch Alliance sent DOD’s 19th Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) weather satellite into orbit today aboard an Atlas V, which uses the RD-180 engines.   DOD officials testified to a House Armed Services Committee (HASC) subcommittee this afternoon that they are conducting a 45-day study on what it would take to build a U.S. designed and produced alternative to the RD-180.  (Check back later for our summary of the hearing; meanwhile, the webcast is posted on the committee’s website.)

Last Updated: Apr 03, 2014 9:55 pm ET
Space Policy Events for March 30 – April 4, 2014

Space Policy Events for March 30 – April 4, 2014

By Marcia Smith | Posted: March 30, 2014 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: March 30, 2014 5:14 pm ET

The following events may be of interest in the week ahead.  The House and Senate are in session.

During the Week

On Tuesday, the House will take up H.R. 2413, the Weather Forecasting Improvement Act. Its broad focus is on improved weather forecasting and telling NOAA to focus on weather rather than climate (though it does not preclude climate activities), but there are a couple of satellite-related provisions in it.  The bill is being brought up on the suspension calendar, which is usually reserved for bills that are not very controversial and are expected easily to garner a two-thirds vote in favor.  There were early concerns that the bill was too anti-climate, but those were largely resolved during full committee markup of the bill in December when a revised version (“amendment in the nature of the substitute”) was approved by the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.  It was adopted by voice vote, which indicates it was acceptable to both sides (or opponents would have insisted on a recorded vote).  There were no major changes to the satellite-related provisions.

Speaking of the weather, while we’d like to be able to report that the chance of wintry weather interfering with Washington, DC events is over for the year, it’s actually snowing right now.  Not to whine, but first they said there’d be a few “conversational” snowflakes and nothing would stick, then they promised it wouldn’t stick to the roads but would on the grass, but now there’s a winter weather advisory with a forecast of 1-3 inches across the area.  We definitely need improved weather forecasting!   Fortunately we don’t have any Washington, DC based space policy events on our list for tomorrow that might be disrupted.  (But seriously!  When will this winter be over?)

Just as the weather gets nice mid-week (they say), we’ll all be sitting in congressional hearings (or at our desks watching them on the Internet) or over at the Keck Center on Fifth Street attending meetings of the NRC’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) and Space Studies Board (SSB).  ASEB meets on Wednesday, SSB on Friday, and in between they meet jointly on Thursday.  The meetings are free to attend, but advance online registration is HIGHLY recommended to ease passing through security to get to the meeting room.  Some sessions will be available by webcast; check the agendas for more information and instructions on how to listen in.

Several congressional hearings will be held on U.S. Strategic Command, the Air Force budget request, and national security space programs.  Issues concerning the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program and the use of Russian RD-180 engines for the Atlas 5 rocket have come up in similar hearings for the past several weeks and could well come up again this week.

The list below shows all the hearings and meetings we know about as of Sunday afternoon.

Tuesday-Thursday, April 1-3

Wednesday, April 2

Thursday, April 3

Friday, April 4

Last Updated: Mar 30, 2014 5:14 pm ET

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