Switzerland and Sweden brought the number of Artemis Accords signatories up to 38 in the past two days. The U.S.-led Accords are a set of non-binding principles of responsible behavior on the Moon. They join 12 other members of the European Space Agency in agreeing to them.
After months of analysis, NASA said today it agrees with the results of last year’s Independent Review Board that concluded the Mars Sample Return mission plan needs a do-over. That is especially true in light of the agency’s new budget realities as it is forced to stay within tight budget caps imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Tomorrow NASA will issue a solicitation to industry, JPL and NASA Centers to come forward with new ideas on how to get the samples now being collected by the Perseverance rover back to Earth in an affordable, timely manner.
NASA confirmed today that a piece of debris from the International Space Station hit a home in Naples, FL last month. The homeowner reported that something hit his house about the time a pallet laden with old batteries was reentering the Earth’s atmosphere. NASA expected it all to disintegrate, but it did not.
Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com over the last week, April 8-14, 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 April 14-20, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
The U.S. Space Force released its Commercial Space Strategy this week, but the Chief of Space Operations cautioned it is “not a panacea.” It sets out priorities and shows how the Space Force’s relationship with industry is changing, but does not answer all the questions. DOD issued its own Commercial Space Integration Strategy last week. Officials say the two are aligned.
Congress gave Japanese Prime Minister Kishida a standing ovation today when he spoke about plans for a Japanese astronaut to land on the Moon as part of the U.S.-led Artemis program. Kishida and President Biden announced yesterday that a Japanese astronaut will be the first non-American on the lunar surface and Japan will provide a pressurized lunar rover.
Russia successfully launched its relatively new Angara 5 rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Siberia today. Development of the Angara series of rockets and the Vostochny launch site have suffered years of delays and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago all but ended its commercial space launch business. Still, the launch is a step forward for Russian space launch capabilities.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio just announced that two Japanese astronauts will join future American missions to the Moon and one will become the first non-American to land on the surface. They also signed an implementing agreement for Japan to provide a pressurized rover for astronauts to use on the Moon.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy today released a Space Sustainability Strategy that calls for the agency to develop a framework for space sustainability. What came out today was just the first step — a strategy for Earth orbit. Next will be cislunar space and more to come after that. NASA soon will post a job opening for a Director of Space Sustainability to lead the effort.