Weekly Roundup for SpacePolicyOnline.com: July 15-21, 2024

Weekly Roundup for SpacePolicyOnline.com: July 15-21, 2024

Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com from July 15-21, 2024 including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.

What’s Happening in Space Policy July 21-27, 2024

July 21, 2024.  Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of July 21-27, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.

Nelson: Apollo 11 United the Country in 1969, Artemis Will Too

July 20, 2024. In marking today’s 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson expressed hope that the space program can unite the country again as it did decades ago. The fractious political climate of 2024 is not so different from the 1960s, he believes, and just as the Apollo program brought everyone together then, space exploration can do it now.

ESA Gets Go Ahead to Begin Work on Apophis Mission

July 19, 2024. To the delight of planetary defense experts, ESA is beginning work on a probe to visit the asteroid Apophis before it reaches Earth in 2029. Apophis will not impact Earth, but its very close approach presents a unique opportunity for scientific analysis not only by ground-based instruments, but spacecraft that can obtain before and after data to assess how it changes as it passes by. NASA already has a probe that will study Apophis afterwards and ESA now is leading an international team to study the before phase.

NASA: ISS Deorbit Vehicle Will Cost $1.5 Billion, But It’s Essential

July 18, 2024. NASA and SpaceX are providing more details about the spacecraft SpaceX will develop to safely send the International Space Station to a watery grave about 6 years from now. The U.S. Deorbit Vehicle is based on SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon, but will be much more powerful so it can control the 420 Metric Ton conglomeration as it breaks apart descending through the atmosphere. NASA is still working on getting Congress to approve the $1.5 billion needed to build and launch the USDV, but they have clearance to proceed and will take the money from elsewhere in their budget if necessary.

NASA Cancels VIPER Lunar Rover

July 17, 2024. NASA announced today that it intends to cancel the highly-anticipated VIPER lunar rover that was to search for water ice at the Moon’s South Pole. Stressing that the VIPER team did outstanding work, NASA officials blamed the decision on cost growth at a time when NASA’s science budget is under severe constraints as Congress demands deep cuts to federal spending.

Weekly Roundup for SpacePolicyOnline.com: July 1-14, 2024

July 15, 2024. Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com over the past two weeks, July 1-14, 2024 including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.

User Comments



SpacePolicyOnline.com has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.  We do not post comments that include links to other websites since we have no control over that content nor can we verify the security of such links.