Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for June 9, 2021: President Biden touts space; Prime Minister Johnson touts space; Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos getting ready to fly; Chinese astronauts getting ready to fly. 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.
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The Senate passed legislation today aimed at confronting competition from China by increasing funding for science and technology. Buried in the sweeping United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) are a NASA authorization bill and the SPACE Act, which formally assigns civil Space Situational Awareness (SSA) responsibilities to the Department of Commerce. The bill now heads to the House where its future is uncertain.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of June 6-12, 2021 and any insight we can offer about them. The Senate is in session this week. In the House, it is a “committee work week” where committees meet virtually and the House meets only in pro forma sessions.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Rogozin, held their first telephone conversation today to discuss future U.S.-Russian space cooperation. Official statements from the two sides offered little detail, but painted a pleasant picture paving the way for future consultations, although Rogozin pointed to two stumbling blocks.
NASA’s announcement yesterday that it will send two probes to Venus later this decade was music to the ears of Rocket Lab’s Peter Beck. Long convinced Venus may hold clues as to whether there is life elsewhere in the solar system, he is planning his own privately-funded mission to the planet and is “thrilled” Venus is back in NASA’s sights, too. …
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Rogozin are scheduled to hold their first talk on June 4. The future of U.S.-Russian cooperation in the International Space Station is likely to be the main topic of conversation and Nelson expects space to be on the agenda of the Biden-Putin summit later this month as well.
NASA will send not just one, but two spacecraft to study Venus as the next two missions in its Discovery series of mid-sized planetary exploration projects. DAVINCI+ and VERITAS will be the first U.S. spacecraft specifically designed to study Earth’s sister planet in more than 30 years.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of May 30-June 5, 2021 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess (except for pro forma sessions).
President Biden’s budget request for the U.S. Space Force is $17.5 billion, a $2.1 billion increase, of which half is due to programs transferring in from other services. That is a tiny percentage of the overall Air Force request of $156.3 billion, but Space Force officials proudly reiterate that they will keep this new military service small, agile and digital. …