Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of November 26-December 2, 2023 and any insight we can provide about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
Steve Jurczyk, whose 32-year NASA career saw him rise to the very top of agency leadership, died on Thanksgiving Day from pancreatic cancer. He was 61.
Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket appeared to take another step forward today. ESA declared the full duration firing of the core stage engine a success. European officials have been waiting for the results of this test before announcing when this new version of the Ariane rocket will leave the launch pad for the first time. Europe is in the midst of a launch vehicle crisis, attempting to regain independent access to space.
Six members of California’s congressional delegation sent a letter to NASA Adminstrator Bill Nelson today urging him not to scale back Mars Sample Return funding right now. Saying they are “mystified” by the agency’s decision to pause the MSR program, revealed at a NASA advisory committee meeting last week, they asserted the decision violates Congress’s authority.
North Korea claimed that it successfully launched a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit on November 21. The United States condemned the launch and a statement from the Department of Defense referred to it as an “attempted space launch,” suggesting it did not achieve orbit, although by November 22 amateur satellite observers reported that two objects were being tracked by DOD. North Korea’s two prior satellite launch attempts this year failed.
As the International Space Station celebrates its 25th anniversary, the Director of NASA’s Commercial Space Division said today that the agency is working closely with partners to avoid a space station gap. If it does happen, though, the situation is “not irrecoverable” because NASA can use U.S. spacecraft that ferry crews to Earth orbit as mini-space stations until commercial successors are available.
Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com in the last TWO weeks, November 6-19, 2023, 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 next TWO weeks, November 19-December 2, 2023 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess this week except for pro forma sessions and will be back the week of November 27.
The second orbital flight test of SpaceX’s Starship rocket got further than the first, but still fell short of the goal. The giant rocket lifted off and the two stages separated, but the first stage then exploded. The second stage continued firing for many minutes, but the Automated Termination System triggered as the engines were close to the end of their burn. SpaceX seemed delighted with the results anyway having gotten as far as they did. Now they will work to find out what happened and try again. The FAA licenses commercial space launches and SpaceX will need a new license before the next flight.
SpaceX will need to launch at least 15 Starships to execute the Artemis III lunar landing NASA said today. Starship cannot fly directly to the Moon, but must refuel in Earth orbit before setting out for deep space. The Starship Human Landing System is just one vehicle requiring a single launch, but adding in all the launches needed for the fuel depot takes the total required into the “high teens.”