Five days after launch, NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope is checking off one box after another unfolding itself enroute to its destination a million miles from Earth. Many more steps are required, but so far so good.
President Biden signed the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act into law today, the 61st year in a row the massive policy bill has made it over the finish line. The $740 billion in the bill for DOD is just a recommendation since this is an authorization bill, but defense appropriators often work closely with the authorizers. The U.S. Space Force would get a significant increase over last year and above the President’s request if the appropriators follow suit, although all the FY2022 appropriations are stuck in limbo right now so there are no guarantees.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the next TWO weeks, December 26, 2021-January 8, 2022, and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess except for pro forma sessions this week. The Senate returns next week, the House the week after.
The James Webb Space Telescope was lofted into space today to begin a month-long journey to its destination a million miles from Earth. Once there, it will observe the universe in infrared wavelengths, revealing the earliest era of the universe when galaxies were being formed. It has taken many more years and billions of dollars than planned to get to this point, but scientists are confident the knowledge gained from its discoveries will be well worth it.
The James Webb Space Telescope rolled out to its launch pad today, ready for flight on Christmas Day. The high altitude winds that postponed the launch from December 24 are forecast to be acceptable on Saturday and Arianespace gave the go-ahead for the Ariane 5 rocket and its $10 billion payload to make the trek to their final spot on Earth. Weather or technical issues could always disrupt plans again, but at this moment, the long-awaited launch is at 7:20 am ET on December 25, 2021.
Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun revealed today that he was the winning bidder in Blue Origin’s auction this summer to be the first passenger on New Shepard. Curiously, he decided not to fly that time and his identity remained a mystery until now. He has bought the other five seats on a New Shepard flight that will take place in the last quarter of 2022 and will choose five “warriors” to join him.
Launch of the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope will have to wait another day. This afternoon NASA, ESA and launch services provider Arianespace declared the telescope and rocket ready for launch, but just hours later had to announce a one-day delay due to poor weather at the launch site in French Guiana. That pushes the launch to Christmas Day.
The U.S. Space Force is celebrating its second birthday today. Space Force officials say the first year was about inventing this new military service and the second on putting it into action. What’s next? To keep delivering.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the next TWO weeks, December 19, 2021 – January 1, 2022, and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess except for pro forma sessions. The Senate returns for legislative business on January 3; the House on January 10.
This morning Arianespace and NASA officially confirmed that the James Webb Space Telescope is now set for launch at 7:20 am ET on December 24. The agency has been working a communications problem between the spacecraft and its Ariane 5 rocket, but that now is resolved and the spacecraft is encapsulated in the Ariane 5’s fairing. The next major milestone will be the Launch Readiness Review three days before liftoff.