Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the next two weeks, November 24-December 7, 2024, and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess this week except for pro forma sessions and will return for legislative business next week.
As the NASA community ponders how the agency, especially the Artemis program, may fare in the second Trump Administration, one industry veteran is suggesting a new policy approach: have NASA focus on validating whether there really is the possibility of an economically self-sustaining presence on the Moon. That prospect underpins the excitement about Artemis, but NASA just canceled the one project that would have started answering that question — VIPER.
On the heels of SpaceX’s largely successful Starship test flight yesterday, the FAA has released a revised draft environmental assessment of SpaceX’s proposal to increase the cadence of launches at its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, TX. An original version was released earlier this year and public meetings were scheduled to obtain input, but the FAA canceled them after learning of allegations that SpaceX violated clean water regulations. Those issues apparently have been resolved. The public may submit comments on the revised draft beginning today and the meetings are rescheduled for January.
SpaceX’s sixth Starship Integrated Flight Test, IFT-6, may not have thrilled everyone with another spectacular booster catch, but the hour-long mission demonstrated advancements in the vehicle’s performance that pushes it another step along the path to eventual operational flights.
Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com from November 11-17, 2024 including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of November 17-24, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
Two Democratic Senators with considerable influence over space program policy and spending are urging an investigation into reports that Elon Musk is in contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin despite U.S. sanctions against Putin. They also are concerned about DOD’s “overreliance” on SpaceX for national security space activities. …
A U.S.-Russian Joint Commission that reviews safety on the International Space Station was not able to reach agreement on what is causing air leaks on the Russian segment of the ISS or the potential risks. Meeting in September in Moscow, Russian and NASA members of the Joint Commission saw the situation quite differently. NASA considers the risks to be much higher than Russia and is implementing preventive measures when the hatch to the area where the leaks are occuring is open.
JPL Director Laurie Leshin announced another workforce reduction today, the second this year. Cuts to NASA’s overall science budget due to the Fiscal Responsibility Act coupled with uncertainty about the future of the Mars Sample Return mission are deeply affecting the laboratory, but Leshin said she believes they will be at a “more stable” level now.
Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com from November 4-10, 2024 including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.