SpaceX has won a three-way contest to build a system to get astronauts from lunar orbit down to and back from the lunar surface. NASA earlier insisted it wanted to award contracts to two bidders to ensure at least one would be ready in time to meet a 2024 goal of putting astronauts back on the Moon, but lack of funding drove the agency to pick just one. For now, that is. The agency plans to open another competition soon for future lunar landing services that could provide opportunities for other companies.

…

Read More Read More

President Biden announced his intent to nominate former astronaut Col. Pamela Melroy (Ret.) to be Deputy Administrator of NASA today. The nomination has been widely expected for weeks. It was somewhat overshadowed today by the agency’s announcement that it selected SpaceX to build the Human Landing System to take astronauts to the lunar surface.

…

Read More Read More

A Senate committee will take up President Biden’s nomination of former Senator Bill Nelson to be NASA Administrator next week. It is another step along the path to confirmation, which Nelson is expected to win, but his opposition to another politician taking the job in 2018 could prompt some pushback during the hearing.

…

Read More Read More

Blue Origin took another step closer to launching people on suborbital trips to space today. For the first time, company employees performed a pre- and post-launch dress rehearsal of what passengers will experience on a New Shepard flight, though no one was aboard the rocket when it actually flew.

…

Read More Read More

Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for April 12, 2021: Happy Cosmonautics Day!, Blue Origin getting closer to launching people, Rep. Beyer anticipates space bipartisanship, Intelsat 10-02 gets a companion, Mike Gold moves to Redwire, a 30-year strategy for space from the Atlantic Council. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter @SpcPlcyOnline for live-tweeting of events and other up-to-the-minute news.

…

Read More Read More

Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of April 11-17, 2021 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.

…

Read More Read More

NASA continues to plan for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter to make its first flight on Sunday, though the date still could change. All the tests conducted so far indicate everything is ready for the technology demonstration to begin, but there is one more test tonight and winds on Mars could also trigger a delay. [UPDATE, April 10: the first flight has been postponed to no earlier than April 14 due to a problem during a test Friday night.]

…

Read More Read More

Three more crew members arrived aboard the International Space Station (ISS) today, raising the complement to 10. It is just a temporary boost until next week when three of the long-term residents return to Earth, but for a facility about the size of a five-room house, it might seem a bit crowded.

…

Read More Read More

President Biden is requesting a 6.3 percent increase for NASA in FY2022 compared to the level appropriated by Congress for FY2021. The $24.7 billion request, $1.5 billion more than FY2021, includes increases for the Artemis program, space technology research and development, earth science research, and STEM education.

…

Read More Read More

Gen. Jay Raymond, Chief of Space Operations and head of the U.S. Space Force, announced today that the second Space Force field command, Space Systems Command, will stand up this summer. It is essentially a rebranding of the former Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. No specific date was set for its establishment. That will wait until a commander is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

…

Read More Read More