In an obscurely worded statement, China’s Xinhua news agency conveyed that the Shenzhou-20 crew is doing well on its extended stay aboard the Tiangong-3 space station. Their planned return to Earth a week ago was delayed because their spacecraft apparently was struck by space debris. Xinhua did not say then or now when they will return or whether a replacement spacecraft must be launched.
Tonight the Senate cleared the bill to end the government shutdown, which has lasted 41 days so far. Eight Democrats and Independents again joined 52 Republicans for final passage of the Continuing Resolution. Because the Senate made changes to the House-passed version, the House must vote on it again, which could happen as soon as Wednesday. If it clears the House and is signed into law, most government agencies will be funded at their current levels through January 30, 2026.
The top Democrat on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee is raising the alarm about actions being taken at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center during the government shutdown to close laboratories and other facilities critical to NASA missions. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) wrote a letter to the acting head of NASA today demanding that the closures and relocations cease immediately, noting Goddard staff were informed only last week that some facilities must be emptied by this Wednesday, November 12.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune finally got the eight Democrats/Independents he needed to vote in favor of a Continuing Resolution that will allow the government to reopen. Tonight’s vote was just one step — though a critically important one — in a process that could take several days to play out. Among other things, the CR is different from the one that passed the House on September 19 so the House will have to vote on it again.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of November 9-15, 2025 and any insight we can offer about them. The House remains in recess indefinitely except for pro forma sessions. The Senate is in session this weekend and Majority Leader Thune says it will remain in session until a solution to the shutdown is found.
If all goes according to plan, Blue Origin will launch their New Glenn rocket for the second time tomorrow, Sunday, at 2:45 pm ET and land the first stage on a barge out at sea. New Glenn-2 is carrying two cubesats called ESCAPADE whose ultimate destination is Mars, though they will linger closer to Earth for the 12 months until the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens.
The FAA’s decision to restrict the number of airline flights to ensure the safety of air travel as some air traffic controllers call in sick during the government shutdown could impact space launches, too. Airspace around launch sites must be cleared during launches and reentries so the FAA will limit them to nighttime hours beginning Monday if the shutdown continues.
Andy Stofan, who was Director of Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center and then headed the space station program at NASA headquarters in the mid-1980s, passed away on October 26, 2025. He was 90.
China decided today to delay the return of their Shenzhou-20 crew because of concern that their spacecraft may have been struck by orbital debris. The three-man crew has been aboard the Tiangong-3 space station since April and their replacements arrived on Saturday.
This afternoon President Trump announced that he will nominate Jared Isaacman to be NASA Administrator. Isaacman was Trump’s original nominee for the job on January 20, but he withdrew it on May 31 after a falling out with Elon Musk who had recommended Isaacman. The Senate could act quickly on the nomination since Isaacman was already approved by the Senate Commerce Committee, but with the government shutdown breaking the record for the longest in history and many other nominations pending, time will tell if they treat this with urgency.