Crew-11 had better luck today. Yesterday their launch was scrubbed one minute before liftoff as storm clouds arrived at just the wrong moment. Today looked like it was going to be a repeat, but they were able to get off in time and are on their way to the International Space Station arriving at 3:00 am ET tomorrow.
Weather prevented Crew-11 from getting off the launch pad today, but they will try again tomorrow. Meanwhile, Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy was at the attempted launch and met with his Russian counterpart, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Bakanov. It was the first in-person meeting between the top NASA and Russian space agency heads in eight years.
The Senate Commerce Committee approved the nominations of Neil Jacobs and Taylor Jordan to top positions at NOAA today. The nominations now must be voted on by the full Senate. No mention was made of the abrupt actions taken by the Trump Administration last Friday putting two other NOAA officials on administrative leave without explanation. The committee also approved Sen. Cruz’s Space Exploration Research Act.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of July 27-August 2, 2025 and any insight we can offer about them. The Senate is in session this week. The House is in recess until September 2 except for pro forma sessions.
The options for NASA employees to voluntarily leave the agency to meet Trump Administration workforce reduction targets ended yesterday. NASA reports that just over 21 percent took the Deferred Resignation Program, about 3,000 employees. The agency estimates its remaining civil servant workforce will be about 14,000, a sharp reduction but still higher than the Administration’s target. Involuntary Reductions-in-Force (RIFs) may follow. The space community and Congress are concerned about how NASA will execute its programs with so much experience walking out the door especially since Congress is poised to reject the deep cuts to NASA proposed by President Trump.
The House Appropriations Committee delayed markup of the FY2026 Commerce-Justice-Science bill that was scheduled for today, but released the report detailing how the committee wants NASA to spend the $24.8 billion recommended by the CJS subcommittee last week. That would keep NASA at its current spending level and is $6 billion more than proposed by the Trump Administration. Among the many differences is continued funding for the Mars Sample Return mission that the Administration wants to terminate. Congressional staffers at a National Academies meeting today expressed concern, however, about whether money Congress appropriates will be spent as intended.
On his second day on the job, Gen. Michael Guetlein said today he has been given 60 days to come up with an objective architecture for President Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense shield. He is convinced the technology, including space-based interceptors, already exists to protect America from incoming missiles from multiple adversaries. Trump announced in May the system will be completed in three years, by the end of his term, at a cost of $175 billion, a timeline and cost far below other estimates.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of July 20-26, 2025 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
The Senate Appropriations Committee is joining its House counterpart in opposing President Trump’s proposal to deeply cut NASA’s budget and modify the Artemis program. From human spaceflight to science to space technology to aeronautics to STEM engagement, the committee’s FY2026 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) bill essentially maintains NASA’s current funding and existing programs, although there is no mention of the Mars Sample Return mission. The House Appropriations CJS subcommittee similarly keeps NASA funding steady. While there are some differences, overall both sides of Capitol Hill appear aligned to preserve NASA. If enacted, the outcome will be far better than the Administration’s plan to cut NASA by 24.3 percent.
The Senate Appropriations Committee completed consideration of the FY2026 Commerce-Justice-Science bill that funds NOAA and NASA today. The committee rejected the Trump Administration’s proposal to terminate NOAA’s Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) designed to provide data to civil and commercial satellite operators to avoid collisions. A coalition of space industry associations urged Congress to continue funding it.